Grimgar of Fire and Steel
by GradationAir87
Summary: With no memories of anything besides his name and his skills, which seem to include a strange propensity for swords and a peculiar ability he only knows as magecraft, a boy wakes up in a cave with twelve others. Is the overwhelming desire to save others enough to survive in this new world?
1. Chapter 1

_He opened his eyes, feeling like he'd heard someone's voice._

He blinked once or twice, his eyes trying to adjust to the darkness, lit only by a faint row of candles reaching off into the distance that did little to illuminate the… cave? Judging by the hard ground beneath him?

Instinctively, he took in a deep breath, sinking into an almost meditative state as he flipped a switch inside of him. For something simple like this, he didn't even need his aria. A familiar burning pain spread throughout his body as his od lurched from its slumber and began to circulate through the latticework of twenty-seven channels carved into his soul, and with a brief effort of will, he directed the energy to his eyes. There wasn't much to do to them; he'd always been blessed with extraordinarily sharp vision, but with just a little bit of prana filling in the conceptual gaps, making them _better_ than they were… his normally burnished amber eyes flashed a bright green for a moment, hidden beneath his eyelids, before he opened his eyes again, and could see.

 _Reinforcement._

Only after the process was complete did he pause to reflect on what he'd just done, and more importantly how he had learned how to, but he couldn't remember.

He couldn't remember anything, really, besides a name. Shirou.

Whatever concerns this sudden amnesia might have come with were quickly abandoned as he once again took in his surroundings – he was near the edge of a group of people, also beginning to stir, inside of what did indeed appear to be a cave. There were twelve others, four girls and eight other boys. Despite a huge range of body sizes, they all appeared to be around the same age – except for maybe the smallest girl – which would probably be between fifteen and eighteen, if he had to guess, idly noting as he did that he wasn't exactly sure how old he was himself.

Briefly, he felt concern, but his reinforced eyes couldn't detect any signs of serious injury, and they all seemed to be waking up fine, which made him breathe a sigh of relief and relax slightly. Nobody needed to be saved.

Another boy, with wavy brown hair and sleepy looking eyes, broke the oppressive silence first as he blinked owlishly in the darkness, clearly not as capable of night vision as Shirou. "Is someone there, maybe…?" he asked hesitantly.

With the dam broken, everybody else started to pipe up as well, confirming to each other that they were not alone, and taking comfort in that fact. Shortly one of the larger boys, with spiky… silver hair, and somewhat tanned skin, who Shirou took an immediate disliking to for some reason, stood up and declared his intention to follow the candles. Not wanting to be left alone, everybody else followed, with Shirou silently taking up the rear, making sure nobody was left behind and glancing back every so often to make sure they weren't being followed.

It was hard to tell how long they walked for, but eventually, they reached an iron gate, flanked by oil lamps, which slowly swung open as they approached. The relief in the air was almost palpable as everyone surged forward into the fresh night air and took in their new surroundings: they were on top of a moderately sized hill in front of a massive, angular tower that stretched up behind them. Discussion sprung up about the town in the distance, which almost looked like a castle, with its fortified walls, but Shirou was transfixed by a sight which had only drawn a few confused glances from the others. Guarding the door from which they had just emerged were two men, dressed in plate armor – with swords at their waists.

 _Forged fairly recently, only a couple dozen years ago, by a blacksmith from Altana. Nothing special – mass produced, for the Frontier Army which defends the border of the Aravakian Kingdom, but still of a fairly high quality. Utilitarian blades, which had seen their fair share of combat. Dozens of goblins and orcs had met their end at the bite of these blades, which had passed from owner to owner as the humans that wielded them were likewise slain in turn, until they found their way to the hands of their current owners, distinguished soldiers granted the honor (and relatively safe duty) of guarding the Forbidden Tower, from which new recruits came, since when they had been confined to their sheaths –_

A flood of information continued to stream into Shirou's mind, nigh instantaneously, as he learned the entire accumulated history and composition of the swords in front of him. Unconsciously, the blueprints for the swords were stored in –

 _ **Unlimited Blade Works.**_

Shirou let out an audible gasp as suddenly he… not quite remembered, but rediscovered, the link to the pure crystallization of his soul – _I am a Sword –_ and all the accumulated weaponry that lay within, each with their own history – and none of which, in his entire collection of a nigh unlimited amount of blades, both legendary and mundane, had anything to do with a town named –

"Altana…"

"Did you just say something?"

Shirou turned to the owner of the timid voice who had addressed him. A short girl with shoulder length light purple hair and matching purple eyes, wearing a white blouse and a modest knee-length skirt, was standing alone and looking at him nervously. For a moment, looking at her face, Shirou almost remembered someone, another girl with strikingly similar features and demeanor, but the flash of a memory was gone the moment it occurred, leaving behind only a strong protective instinct, almost like that of an older brother.

"Ah, sorry, I just thought of a name for some reason. It's probably nothing," he told her with an attempt at a reassuring smile.

With a bit of a shy smile in response, she responded, "Ah… a name… My name is Shihoru. My first name. Probably. Sorry…"

"Shirou. Pleasure to meet you." He outstretched his hand, which she accepted, looking a little more confident in having found someone to talk to. "But that's not what you said before, is it?" She asked, her brow furrowing slightly in confusion.

Shirou scratched the back of his head a bit sheepishly, struggling to figure out how to answer, before an annoying voice pierced through the air, cutting off their conversation and the several others like it that were happening around them. Another girl, with her hair tied into bunches, pranced out from behind the tower, loudly singing something that could only generously be called a song, and when everyone had grown quiet, she introduced herself.

"Hello! Hiya! Welcome to Grimgar! I'm Hiyomu, and I'll be your guide! Kyapeeeeee!" She finished her introduction with an odd squealing noise.

One of the other boys, another tall and muscular one, but this one with a buzz-cut, growled out "The way you talk pisses me off," putting words to what most present were thinking, but the aggression only spurred the newcomer on to more annoying antics as she pretended to be terrified. She let out more squeals and danced around hiding behind others and blatantly teasing the angry boy until the Silver-hair managed to calm him down. Unfortunately, she had little more to say, besides that everybody should follow her.

The path down from the tower and towards the town led the group past what was clearly a graveyard, which seemed to make Shihoru and a few of the others a little uncomfortable, and she walked a little closer next to Shirou in response, but the somber mood was suddenly cut off by a loud gasp from a girl with long auburn hair tied into a braid, who was staring up into the sky. "Oh, moon, you're so crimson red! So beautiful!" She declared in a distinctly country accent. As everyone else followed her gaze, they were met with the unearthly sight of a crescent moon that was indeed a brilliant crimson red. Staring at a moon the color of freshly spilled blood – _and he had seen so much blood, for some reason he was sure of that –_ Shirou couldn't help but clench his fists. He couldn't remember where exactly home was, but something told him that it was a long way away from where he was now.

Hiyomu lead the group of thirteen teenagers into the city, prattling a bit as she went, but she notably mentioned that the city was called Altana, at which Shihoru sent Shirou another questioning glance, which he met with a shrug. During a lull in their guide's rambling, the topic of names was brought up once again by the rest of the group, none of whom seemed to know more than their own names. A smaller boy with messy reddish-brown hair introduced himself as Ranta, insulting the sleepy-eyed boy in the process, who then gave his own name as Haruhiro. A boy with silky, light brown hair was Manato, a boisterous boy with a black hat was Kikkawa, a massive but slightly soft looking boy was Moguzo, and Shirou and Shihoru introduced themselves to the group as well, but Ranta started poking fun at Moguzo's height before anyone else had a chance to speak. Shirou shook his head a little bit at how it seemed the small boy was determined to make people dislike him, as Haruhiro and Moguzo both looked a little off-put by the abrasive boy's mannerisms and Silver-hair expressed his annoyance by intimidating the much smaller boy into silence.

Their short journey ended well inside the town's walls, at a building that looked and smelled like a pub, labeled "Altana Frontier Army Reserve Force Crimson Moon," where Hiyomu dropped them off in the hands of the man behind the bar, introduced as "Bri-chan."

Bri was a man, that was certain, but he had bright green hair. His face was covered in make-up, making his piercingly blue eyes seem to pop, and his lips were either through lipstick, or possibly paint, colored pitch black. His smile was almost predatory, and several of the teens shifted uncomfortably under his stare – especially the boys.

"My name's Brittany, and I'm the commander of the Altana Frontier Army's Reserve Force, called Crimson Moon. You can either call me 'commander' or Bri-chan, but whichever you use, make sure you use it affectionately, you got that? Like a child to his mother." His voice had a purring lilt to it, and every word out of his mouth made Shirou feel distinctly uncomfortable.

It seemed that Silver-hair felt the same way, as he strode forward and without missing a beat, declared with perfect confidence "I don't like fags like you."

In the blink of an eye, Brittany had a knife at the boy's throat. Shirou took a step forward, unconsciously taking in the fact as he added it to his mental treasury that unlike the swords he'd seen previously, this dagger had had only one owner for a very long time, and had tasted quite a bit of blood.

"Oh, I like boys like you," Bri said sensually. "But let me give you a warning: Nobody who calls me a fag tends to live very long afterwards. I'll forgive it just this once, but you'd better not push me. What's your name, kid?"

"Renji." He smirked as he unflinchingly took the blade of the knife in his hand and pushed it off to the side, disregarding the fact that it cut deeply into the flesh at the base of his thumb as he did so. "And it's not in my nature to back down to threats. Now tell me, what is this Frontier Army? Why am I here?" Shirou noted that he'd said "I" instead of "we," and his initial bad impression of the taller boy didn't get any better.

While wiping the blood from his dagger, Bri explained to the group that the Frontier Army's job was to, quite simply, protect the frontier of the kingdom, where humans tended to clash with "monsters," and prevent them from encroaching on the rest of the kingdom. That said, the normal army was responsible mostly for defense, guarding the town itself, and was typically only mobilized for large scale offensive operations like the sieging of enemy towns or castles. The reserve force, Crimson Moon, was a smaller, more mobile force of loosely organized individuals that formed small groups and went afield to scout, infiltrate, and attack targets of opportunity, making it less likely that the monsters could muster up a strong enough force to assault the town in the first place.

Bri offered a choice. Either they could join, as Crimson Moon Trainees, and be offered a signing bonus of ten silvers, apparently a form of currency which he said would be enough for them to live on for a while, or they could walk away and try to find some other job with nothing but the clothes on their back. Not much of a choice, really, Shirou thought as he watched Renji claim one of the red pouches on the counter that contained both the silvers as well as a small copper medallion portraying a crescent moon that Bri explained was a way to identify themselves as trainees. If they didn't accept, and walked away penniless, they would probably end up as slaves, or worse. One by one, the others went forward to collect their own sets, until only a few – Shirou, Shihoru, Moguzo, and Haruhiro – were left.

As Haruhiro and Moguzo stepped forward, Shirou nodded to himself. "If it means protecting others, then… I'll become a volunteer soldier," he muttered softly. This seemed to be enough to spur on Shihoru as well, and they claimed the last of the pouches.

"Well done! You're all Crimson Moon Trainees now!" Bri said with a smile. "Slay the monsters that threaten Altana, take the spoils, and sell them. Come back when you've gotten enough silver to all become full members, and work hard to become strong!"

Suddenly there was a dull thudding sound behind him that made Shirou spin around, where he saw Buzz-cut sitting on the floor with a shocked expression, and Renji standing over him from where he had obviously tripped him.

"Get up," Renji said coldly, and as Buzz-cut tried to scramble to his feet, Renji mercilessly shoved him to the ground again.

"What the hell are you doing, you bastard?!" Buzz-cut yelled, glaring up at the other muscular boy.

"When you first saw everyone else, you looked at me and thought, 'Which of us is the strongest amongst us?' I'm showing you that it's me. Now stand up."

Renji was waiting to attack the moment Buzz-cut tried to stand again, it was obvious to all the bystanders. Buzz-cut scrambled to dodge it, but before he could get enough distance, Renji swung in with a powerful punch – which was deflected by a boy Renji hadn't even spared a glance to before, a ginger kid with amber eyes that had stepped in between the two much taller, more muscular boys, and forced the punch to the side with his own forearm. Renji stared down at him appraisingly.

"Oh? You've got guts, kid, but you know now I'm going to have to make a lesson out of you too, right?"

Shirou stared back defiantly. "I've fought stronger foes than you before," he declared, and as he said it he knew it to be true – even if, at the moment, he couldn't actually recall who exactly it had been that he'd fought.

Without further words, Renji swung again with a right hook. Shirou raised his left forearm to block, letting instincts take over, but for some reason uncomfortable at the prospect of fighting unarmed. The punch from the much heavier boy impacted his guard and sent him stumbling back a few steps – _If I'd had a sword, I could have better deflected it –_ and Renji was after him again before he had a chance to recover, coming in with a roundhouse kick. Shirou turned his stumble into a roll backwards, neatly avoiding it and coming back to his feet just as Renji jumped forward, thrusting out his knee midair towards Shirou's chest. With a thought, his od was circulating again, and instinctively his hands went out to his side to grasp handles of swords that didn't quite exist – but no, this wasn't a fight to the death, just a standoff with a bully, and just before he let his battle instincts take over completely and use his prana for _projection,_ he instead used it for _reinforcement –_ Renji's knee connected heavily with his body, but rather than the bone-crushing blow it was meant to be, it only managed to send him sliding back another few feet, where he immediately recovered and took up another fighting stance.

Renji looked at him, surprise clear on his face that his enemy was still standing, and seemingly unharmed, before suddenly completely relaxing. "You're pretty strong, kid. Shirou, was it? Join my team. You too," he said, gesturing at Buzz-cut where he'd been watching slightly slack jawed off to one side. "What's your name?"

"Ron," Buzz-cut growled as he stalked over to stand beside Renji, brushing against Shirou as he did. "You're pretty strong yourself. I guess I'll join you. And you," he said with a look of disdain towards the redhead, "I don't owe you anything. I would have been fine by myself, you got that?"

Renji glanced around the crowd, pointing at both a tall boy with black hair and glasses, as well as the smallest girl present, who looked to be under 4'9" in height. "You two look like you could be useful as well. I'll take you too."

"Adachi. Glad to be on board," Glasses introduced himself, as the small girl blushed and simply nodded, with a tiny "…aye" as she ran over to him as well. Renji turned and began to lead his party outside, but turned back when he realized Shirou wasn't with them.

"No," Shirou said simply as he looked around at who was left. Shihoru, Haruhiro, Yume, and Moguzo especially all looked uncertain and nervous after the brief fight. Ranta was clearly insecure as well, in his own way. It wouldn't be right to gather all the strongest in one party, and leave the weakest to fend for themselves. "Keep your party safe, Renji. I would rather work with them."

Renji snorted. "Your loss," he called back as he left without another backwards glance. He was followed by one of the other girls, an elegant looking young woman who Shirou heard introduce herself as Sassa and pledge that she would do anything if Renji would accept her to his group.

"Gah, I wanted to be a part of Team Renji too," Kikkawa moaned as Sassa ran out the door. "I bet they'd be invincible in a fight. Such a good party. Oh well, nothing for it I guess, but now I'm off to have a look around town. See ya!" He said as he boldly strode off out the door as well.

"A-are you alright?" Shihoru asked, after the pub was finally clear of Renji's party.

"It's alright, I guess," Shirou said with a wry smile, "I just can't really stand bullies like that. I tried, but I suppose if they all want to follow him anyways, there's nothing I can do about it. At least they should have enough strength among them that they won't die."

"I meant your chest!" Shihoru blurted out, looking flustered.

"Oh, that's fine too. I'm pretty tou-"

"Ah, that was awesome!" Ranta shouted, interrupting Shirou as he threw his arm around the other redhead like they were old friends. "Not as awesome as Lord Ranta, of course, but you'll get there someday with moves like that! Just you wait, maybe I'll even accept you into my own party if you're good enough!"

"You'd wanna work with Yume more'n all them muscly boys and pretty girls?" The country girl, apparently named Yume, pitched in while scratching her head.

"It's just... I want to help people," Shirou admitted. "I feel like I could help more people by staying with you all than I could with Renji, no matter how strong he is."

"So, the seven of us, then?" Manato added after a quick count of those remaining in the pub and coming up to shake Shirou's hand. "A bit large for a party, based on what Bri said, but there's safety in numbers, right?"

Shirou noted the surprised but grateful look Haruhiro and Moguzo shot Manato at being included in the count, as though they had expected to be left behind.

He nodded. "I look forward to working with you all.

* * *

 **This is my first attempt at writing something on here, or anywhere at all, really. Hope you enjoy, and I'd appreciate any reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they all left the pub, dawn had fully broken, and the party was left to figure out how to get settled into the new town. They decided to split up to gather information and meet up in a few hours back outside the Crimson Moon headquarters. Manato went off to find a tavern, Ranta and Moguzo struck off for the marketplace, Yume and Haruhiro left to explore the town a bit, and Shirou wanted to find a blacksmith for some reason, with Shihoru along for the ride.

When they eventually managed to find a blacksmith, following the black smoke the forge belched out into the sky, Shirou introduced himself warmly to the owner, a portly man with a robust beard, and began surveying the weaponry that was on display.

Almost reverently, Shirou traced his hand along a sword's blade, murmuring _"Trace: On"_ as he did so, more out of habit than any necessity. His soul had already analyzed and stored the many blades present. It was curious – many of the blades were freshly forged, but others had seen use before, and had merely been repaired, after their previous owners had met grim fates. The prevailing theme among the histories of those swords which had had owners before was that they were inexperienced, and had no memories of holding weaponry before the first time they had used the blades. Even those that had merely been traded in as their previous owners searched for an upgrade, which implied their owner was skilled enough to live long enough to do so, were used by relative amateurs. Not a single sword here had a memory of being wielded by someone who had studied the blade before their teenage years.

"Shirou-san really likes swords, huh?" Shihoru interrupted his musings from where she was waiting patiently.

"No need for the honorific, Shihoru. You can just call me Shirou. And yeah, I guess. Something about weapons, especially swords, really seems to resonate with me. Besides my own name, one of the only things that I'm sure about is that I'm somebody who makes swords."

"R-really? You can make swords?"

Shirou held his arm in front of him, reaching for a phantom blade. He considered projecting one of the nameless blades before him as a demonstration, but a lifetime of instincts stopped him from blatantly using magecraft in front of a civilian. "Maybe. We'll see, later, but I can get a good sense of the history of the region just by examining these blades." He turned towards the purple-haired girl with a solemn expression on his face. "Being a volunteer soldier is a very dangerous job, you know? We'll all have to try our best to stay safe."

Shihoru nodded vigorously, and Shirou spent a bit more time chatting with the smith, even going as far as offering a few tips to improve the weapon he was currently forging, before they decided to meet back up with the others.

Yume and Haruhiro got back at around the same time as they did, followed by the other three a short while later. Haruhiro mentioned that they'd found a bank where they could store their money, called Yoruzo's, which was staffed by a single young girl with a photographic memory. Ranta and Moguzo had spent a bit of their money sampling some of the food in the marketplace, and their description of the kebabs there was enough to make the rest of the hungry party follow them back to the stall that sold them as they continued to talk. Shirou explained a bit of the history of the area, and described some of the monsters that the trainees were likely to fight against, while Manato offered perhaps the most useful tidbits of information: that there was a Reserve Force barracks that would let trainees lodge for free, and that if they wanted to be successful, they would all need to join a guild.

"Most of the business in town is controlled by the guilds, and if you aren't a part of a guild, the guilds will actively try to hamper your opportunities. In return, joining a guild protects your individual rights, teaches you the trade, and grants some mutual protection from your guild members. It's expensive to join one of them, eight whole silvers, but without joining them there's really no way to make money… As soldiers, the main guilds we should be looking at are the Warrior's Guild, the Priest's and Paladin's Guild, the Hunter's Guild, the Dread Knight's Guild, the Thieves' Guild, and the Mage's guild."

"Wait, there's a guild that _teaches_ magecraft?" Shirou couldn't help exclaiming.

Manato looked at him oddly. "Shouldn't the emphasis in that question be on the "magic" part, Shirou? And what's with the archaic terminology?"

Shirou froze, wondering how to answer the question. Why had he put the emphasis there? It was natural that he wasn't surprised by the existence of magecraft, of course, but why were his thoughts also insisting that magecraft was something to be kept secret, something that would decrease in power the more people knew its mysteries? Why couldn't he remember why he knew these things?

"Why, Red? You thinking you want to be a hotshot wizard or something?" He was saved by Ranta's questioning.

"If anyone should be called Red, it's you, Ranta," Haruhiro cut in. "You make people angry enough to see red, anyways, and you're just as much a redhead as Shirou."

Before Ranta could come back at Haruhiro with one of his usual tirades, Shirou cut him off. "No, I don't think so. I'm only a third rate magus, anyways. I'm better suited to combat."

"I-I think Shirou would be great at anything he wanted to do!" Shihoru shot back.

"You _are_ a third rate magus?" Haruhiro picked up on Shirou's second slip, as Manato nodded with a matching frown.

Wide-eyed and a little panicked, Shirou fought down the instinct telling him that he absolutely must keep his abilities a secret – it wouldn't be that bad if he told them, right? Especially considering there was openly a Mage's Guild in town – and managed to force out a response. "I just – I know a few things. I'm… good with swords. I can kind of, you know, read them. And I can make things stronger, a little bit. And -"

"Shirou." Ranta cut him off. Shirou almost flinched back, ready for whatever terrible things the slightly smaller boy could call him. A liar, a cheater, somehow complicit with whatever it was that brought them here – "That's not magic, you retard. That's just called being good at fighting."

Shirou let out a nervous laugh, taking the easy out where he had one. "Haha, yeah… that must be it…"

"Well, what guilds do y'all wanna join, then?" Yume thankfully changed the subject.

Manato explained a bit more about the different guilds, and their strengths and weaknesses. Yume was instantly taken in by the idea that hunters would eventually be able to get pets, and declared that it was the guild for her. Ranta was thrilled at the idea of being a dread knight, which didn't surprise anyone. Manato declared that he would become a priest and make sure everyone stayed healthy, which earned him a proud and thankful look from Shirou, their largest member Moguzo decided to become a warrior, and the wiry Haruhiro thought he might fit in as a thief.

Shihoru was originally afraid to pick the Mage's Guild after hearing that even Shirou didn't think he could make it as one, but after being reassured that it was one of the jobs that required the least amount of physical conflict, she was convinced. After hearing about the different branches of magic, Shirou suggested that she might want to try out shadow magic. Something about her appearance, which still faintly reminded him of someone, made him say something about Imaginary Numbers that she didn't quite understand, but decided to take into consideration nonetheless.

Shirou was left without a clear choice left for him. Thief and dread knight were non-options, considering only one thief was allowed in a party and the other guild didn't appeal to him at all, and he didn't think he had what it took to be a mage, but the guilds of Hunter, Warrior, and Priest all appealed to him. As much as he loved swords, he was sure that he would also make an excellent Archer, which for some reason his mind automatically capitalized. That said, the guild of priests was that most devoted to saving others…

"I'll join Manato at the Priest's Guild. You said there was a more martial order of priests as well, right? Paladins?"

After receiving a nod of confirmation, Shirou smiled slightly. He had some reservations about being labeled a priest for some reason as well, but looking down at the clothing he had come here in, he decided that the blue and white of the priests and paladins would suit him nicely.

* * *

Shirou regretted his choice of guild. It wasn't the rigorous, week long initiation to the guild that bothered him, however grueling the physical exercises might have been. It was more that his own instinctual preferences seemed to clash with almost everything that the grizzled old man who was Manato's and his teacher tried to teach him.

First of all, he was expected to wear heavy armor. As always, he wasn't sure why he thought so, but Shirou was pretty sure that in his experience, armor wouldn't matter in the slightest against the things he was used to fighting, and all it managed to do was slow down his usual fighting style. Not to mention that most paladins used shields, and that new members were heavily encouraged to use them as well, as it tended to increase their survival rate. Shirou, who had initially wanted to dual wield one-handed swords, was quickly shot down and shouted at for being foolish, and the best that he managed to haggle for was using a two-handed sword, which was met with grumbles as to why he didn't just join the warrior's guild in the first place.

His choice of weaponry also made many of the skills the guild taught useless, as they were designed to be used with a shield, and it was tough to adapt them to use with a single weapon, but more than that, Shirou saw almost all of them as being useless. For example, they had a skill called "Block," a closely guarded guild secret – which was just blocking an attack with a shield. Why were such basic techniques referred to as skills? Did he need to learn "Punishment" to be able to swing a sword down vertically onto an opponent?

His final major ideological clash with the head of the guild, which almost had him expelled, was his argument that even a primarily front-line fighter could use a long range sidearm, namely a bow. The Archpriest cursed him out for cowardice and swore that so long as he was training within those walls, he would use swords and swords only, and that was final.

In the end, Shirou learned only a single skill, due to the conjunction of the fact that he perked up at the name for some reason – Saber – and that it was technically a magic skill. When it was taught to him, he had initially protested that he wasn't particularly skilled at formalcraft, but his confused teacher had overruled him and insisted that he try it out. By inscribing a hexagram into his blade, and marking it with his blood, he could cause his sword to glow brightly and enhance its sharpness. Shirou knew that blood, like all bodily fluids, was a natural prana conductor, but he was shocked at the intensity of the effect for how little prana he had allowed to trickle into it. When he asked his teacher about it, he was again lectured on his heresy at comparing the blessing of the Light God, Lumiaris, to mere magic.

Shirou had assumed that all the talk of gods and such had just been superstition, but to evoke such a powerful magical effect… Shirou, as a third rate magus, knew his own limitations, and one of those was that he was almost completely unable to draw in mana from the world around him and convert it to prana; he relied entirely on his own supply of od. But now that he thought about it, sniffing the air, it did seem particularly mana rich – not that he really had any frame of reference, considering he lacked memories of the world from which his Noble Phantasms were born. Could this world possibly be in the Age of Gods?

During his daily meditations, where priests and paladins in training were supposed to commune with Lumiaris through deep introspection, Shirou instead explored the pocket of his soul that held infinite blades, re-learning the histories of some of the more notable ones. One night, he snuck outside into the empty training courtyard. With a muttered aria of " _Trace: On,"_ Shirou slipped into the state of self-hypnosis that made magecraft possible. Projecting his od out through his outstretched right hand, condensing it into solid form, he performed the most basic technique of Material Transmutation magecraft: _Gradation Air._ Rather than a hollow copy made of "nothing" based off of a shoddily constructed imagined image, Shirou judged the concept of his creation, completely hypothesized the basic structure and duplicated the composition material, imitated the skill of its making, sympathized with the experience of its growth, reproduced its accumulated years, and finally excelled every manufacturing process – and with a flash of blue light, a perfect sword materialized in his hand.

It was long – too long. The slender, slightly curved blade extended over five _shaku,_ around 150 centimeters long, tapering to a razor edge on one side, and extended from a simple katana hilt wrapped in blue silken thread with no cross guard. Its name, _Monohoshizao_ , meant "laundry-drying-pole," so called because its previous owner often used the abnormally long blade as such. The man, Sasaki Kojirou, was a swordsman who devoted his entire life to being able to cut down a swallow while it was in flight, and was from a country called Japan, which was also where the sword had been forged.

 _Japan._ Yeah, that sounded right, for some reason. Shirou allowed the history within the sword to take over, replicating the skills of the man who once wielded it, and sank into a stance that was no stance, with a heart like clear water, and began a series of attacks that was almost like a dance. Each strike would be lethal, taking the head off of an enemy, but despite their clear goal, they were completely unreadable, flowing like water towards their target. When he finally finished, he looked down at the sword in his hand with a small frown, not because it was flawed in some way, but because it was still perfect. He had chosen this sword to try out projection with because of the small prana cost to project, and despite being a legendary blade, it still wasn't on the level of a noble phantasm, so it could probably last for a couple of hours, but after being around for at least half an hour, there should have been some degradation. Was Gaia's influence on this world not as strong as it was on his own? Who was Gaia? He shook his head as again, almost-memories gave him explanations that sounded right, but didn't have anything solid to back them up.

 _Perhaps this is the Age of Gods after all_ , Shirou thought as he willed the blade to dissipate back into nothingness.

Despite his difficulties, he graduated as a fully-fledged paladin, much to his teacher's dismay, as he was able to replicate most of the basic paladin skills even without properly learning them. He turned down the armor that normally would have been provided as well (which he later regretted, realizing he could have sold it to recoup at least a little of the cost of the guild), graduating with a simple blue and white priest's outfit identical to the one Manato wore, with the only difference being that Shirou was given a simple iron bastard sword while Manato carried a collapsible staff.

His first stop after graduating anyways was back at the weapon shop, where he used half of one of his precious remaining two silver pieces to purchase a both a long dagger that he would use alongside his sword as well as a quiver of arrows and a strong yew longbow, which he got at a discount because it wasn't balanced properly – one arm was much longer than the other, which for some reason gave him an odd sense of nostalgia.

Because of this detour, he was the last to arrive at the tavern Manato suggested as their meeting point after they'd all finished joining their guilds, walking in looking like an eclectic priest who'd forgotten that their job was healing.

"Hahaha! Red Retard, did you get lost on your way to the Paladin's Guild? Why the hell do you have a bow, and why is it so fucked up looking?"

The one speaking, of course, was the small boy wearing a suit of horribly impractical looking red and black armor with a sword to match, both of them covered in spikes for no reason at all.

"Hmm, Yume's bow is smaller than Shirou's… but that's ok, because Yume can't hit anything with it anyways!" The auburn haired girl beamed, as though that were something to be proud of. "Master said Yume shouldn't have been a hunter after all, but Yume knows if she practices hard enough eventually she'll be able to hit the target! And master's little wolfie is just so cute, I can't wait to have one of my own!"

Shirou smiled at the hunter, who was now clad in a red and white jerkin and a pair of short black shorts. "I'd be happy to help you train. Archery is something of a hobby of mine… I think." For some reason, Shihoru shot Yume a glare after Shirou's offer.

The small girl was now clad in a black dress with orange trim, and had a matching stereotypical witch's hat. "I guess I'm a mage now…" she muttered softly.

Shirou's eyes grew a little sadder as he looked at the girl that reminded him of a little sister, or perhaps a school junior, but he smiled proudly at her nonetheless. "That's amazing, Shihoru! To think after just one week you could learn magecraft! You must be a genius! Just remember, to be a magus is to walk with death. Be careful, alright?"

Now with Shirou's smile directed at her, Shihoru couldn't handle the attention, and pulled her hat down so the brim would hide her growing blush. Luckily, Ranta was all too happy to divert attention back to himself. Shirou idly wondered if he might be better with people than he acted, as he certainly was making a habit of changing the subject whenever people were feeling uncomfortable. Or perhaps he was just angry that everyone had ignored his earlier outburst.

"Hey, hey! The only genius here is me! I'm an ungodly, unworldly genius of a Dread Knight who can summon demons! Glory to the Dark God Skullheil!"

"Demons, huh? What can they do?" Haruhiro asked, as always playing the straight man to Ranta's antics.

"It sometimes whispers in my ear, telling me demon jokes! Or, he can tell me when enemies are near – but only if he wants to! And I can only summon him at night. But he'll get stronger as I collect Vices!"

"Hmm, yes, that does sound pretty perfect for you, Ranta." The thief now wore a set of dull clothing, a short grey half-cloak over a skin tight black shirt, supplemented by bits of leather armor over vital areas that didn't seem to hinder movement much. "Man, I'm glad that's over. My master was sexy as hell, but she was a real slave driver."

Ranta's jaw dropped. "HELL YES. Tell me more."

Manato cut in before Ranta could start up again. "Ours was harsh too, Haruhiro," he said while gesturing towards Shirou. "We had an old man for a teacher who seemed like he was born to shout at us. Well, mostly at Shirou, but even just the dregs of his bad mood from dealing with him were enough to make my life hell."

Shirou scratched his head sheepishly and grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that, Manato. I probably shouldn't have joined that guild after all."

"Why was the old man always angry at Shirou?" Yume cocked her head to one side questioningly.

"Eh… we just didn't really see eye to eye on a few things, I suppose. He didn't want me to use a bow, for one. I had to buy this one after I graduated."

Moguzo, who had been sitting quietly until then, finally spoke up. "Will you be fighting in the back, then? I thought you would be on the frontlines with me, and Yume would be in the back, but if you two want to switch roles…"

"No, it's not that." Shirou shook his head confidently. "When you're fighting to the death, you have to be able to adapt. Getting stuck in the mindset of 'you must stand in the back and use ranged attacks, and I will be in front and only use melee' will make you rigid, and if you meet a foe smart enough to exploit that, it will mean your doom. For example, what would happen if you were busy fighting in the front, and a second enemy snuck behind us and attacked Manato and Shihoru while you were occupied?"

The small girl let out a small "Eep!" at the thought, and shrunk a little further into her seat, but Manato smiled, drew his staff, and flicked it open to its full length, before giving it a practice twirl.

Shirou smiled approvingly. "Exactly. A priest or mage who can't fight in close combat, or at least defend themselves, is a liability to the team – we'll always have to be focused on protecting them, rather than trusting that they have the strength to watch our backs and stay safe on their own."

Shihoru's heart sank in distress as the much stronger boy called her a liability. With tears springing unbidden to her eyes, she barely managed to mumble out "B-but they didn't teach us anything like that in the mage's guild… it's not my fault…"

Manato put his hand on her shoulder, making her jump a little bit, but as she looked up at him she was met with only kindness and reassurance. "Don't worry, Shihoru. Stick close to me, and I'll protect you." She visibly relaxed in relief, and allowed herself a small smile.

"Of course, I don't expect us to be perfect from the start. We'll get there eventually, and in the meantime you can rely on us." Shirou tried to calm the nervous girl down as well. "In fact, once we've made at least a little bit of money to ensure we can live somewhat comfortably for a while, we should take some time off to train and teach each other the techniques we've learned."

Haruhiro looked startled at that. "Isn't that forbidden? I'll be kicked from the Thieves' Guild if they find out I've been teaching their techniques to outsiders." Several other heads around the table nodded uncomfortably at Shirou's proposition.

"Well, I don't care about the stupid guilds anyways. It might make sense for you all to stay in them and make sure you can keep learning new techniques, but I'll train you all in self-defense myself if I have to. Getting kicked out of the Paladin's Guild would be nothing compared to losing one of you due to my own negligence," Shirou declared with steely eyes. "And I'll try my hardest to pick up on all of your techniques as well, and pass them along to the rest of you. That way, it'll only be me that gets in trouble for stealing guild secrets, right?"

Manato still bore a small frown at the idea. "But some of us need to worship different gods for our techniques to work, right? For example, I couldn't bond with an animal companion like Yume could because I follow Lumiaris instead of the goddess Eldritch, and Ranta can't learn healing magic because he follows Skullheil."

"Warriors and mages don't follow any particular god, do they?" Shirou glanced at Moguzo and Shihoru for confirmation, who both shook their heads. "It's settled, then. I'll make sure to teach you all how to use magecraft and to be able to fight well. The easiest way to save someone is to ensure that they don't need to be saved in the first place," he finished with conviction.

Ranta, for one, seemed fully in favor of the idea. "Hahaha! Yes! Stealing other guild's secrets… Nobody ever mentioned it in the Guild, but it definitely seems like what a Dread Knight should do! Of course, I won't let you learn my secret demon summoning techniques-"

"Not that Yume would even want to!" The huntress cut in, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Shut up, flat-chest!" Came the swift retort, causing Yume to let out a "Hmph!" and sit back with her arms folded over her chest. "-Or else you'd all try to steal my vices! And it's not like someone as awesome as a Dread Knight would ever need to learn the inferior techniques of other guilds, but I'll become the most awesome magic-Dread-Knight-warrior that ever lived!"

Shirou smiled at the rest of the group, patting Yume on the arm reassuringly, which again spurred a jealous glare from Shihoru, who inched a little closer to Manato in response. "It's settled then. Tomorrow, we'll go out hunting for monsters."


	3. Chapter 3

Of course, tomorrow was still a fair deal away. After the celebratory dinner at the tavern, which cost about 10 copper each when drinks were taken into account – putting Shirou at 1 silver, 36 copper left, and everybody else around 50 copper more – the group traveled to the Crimson Moon soldier's lodge, which allowed anybody with a badge to stay for free. On the way, Shirou insisted on stopping for fresh groceries, spending another few copper and worrying Haruhiro, who wasn't sure that this rate of spending was sustainable. Shirou assured him that if they couldn't make enough money as volunteer soldiers to sustain free housing and groceries, then there wouldn't be any volunteer soldiers left after they all starved. When they arrived, they learned something that Manato hadn't quite realized: Only full Crimson Moon members, with a proper contract and a silver badge, could stay for free. Trainees like them, with only copper badges, had to pay 10 copper per room, which came in either 4-bed or 6-bed sizes. Still, it was cheaper than any of the other options, so they paid the price with only minor grumbling. Despite the cheap accommodations, they were the only people there – Renji's party, who should have been at the same level as them, was apparently either already more successful, or simply more confident and willing to spend more money on less drab housing.

To be fair to Renji's party, the reserve lodge was nothing special… or even good. There was a pit for a toilet, a stone-lined hole in the ground serving as a public bathroom, and the straw-lined bunk beds didn't even come with blankets. The five boys in the group would have taken a 6-bed room, but the beds, which were already on the small side in the 4-bed room, would definitely not be big enough for the 6'1" Moguzo. They were instead forced to get two 4-bed rooms for the boys, and another for the girls. It came out to thirty coppers total, or four each, with Shirou paying the extra two despite the protests of everybody else but Ranta. Ranta and Moguzo would share one room, with Manato, Haruhiro, and Shirou in the other.

The girls washed up first, as the boys placed what meager belongings they had in their rooms. Shirou immediately left and went back down to the baths, and was surprised when he got there that Ranta and Moguzo had beaten him there.

Ranta, for his part, looked even more surprised to see Shirou, but his eyes immediately lit up with newfound respect for the other redhead. In a somewhat overblown stage whisper, he called out "Shirou! I knew it! You're a man of good taste and no class as well!" as Moguzo stood behind him, a bit of a blush visible on his face even in the dim light of dusk.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked as he walked over, not bothering to lower his own voice. "I was just going to offer to wash the girls' clothes while they were in the bath, so they would have something clean to change into when they got out."

Ranta's eyes flashed even brighter. "Shirou, you're – you don't just have good taste, you're a GENIUS!"

Ignoring the suspicious duo as they ran and hid – poorly – behind a tree in the courtyard, Shirou walked up to the door of the baths and gave it a light knock. The murmured conversation inside stopped as there was a shriek and a splash, followed by a sputtering noise and a coughing "Who-who's there!" from Shihoru, punctuated by Yume's soft laughter.

"Ah, sorry, it's just me… I wanted to know if you wanted me to wash your clothes for you. I even have some ideas as to how I could improve them."

"Shi-Shirou! Don't scare me like that! And asking for my clothes…" Came Shihoru's voice, still muffled by the door.

Yume's laughter grew closer and she cracked the door open, sticking her head out. Her hair, freed from its braid, was wet from the bath and cascaded down over her shoulders. "Yume thinks that's a good idea! Thanks Shirou!" She extended an arm through the crack as well, holding both hers and Shihoru's clothes all bundled together, and Shirou took them even as Shihoru's panicked voice rose from behind her.

"Yume, no! What are you doing! M-m-my – Shirou, you'd better not do anything weird to them!" She called out as the door was closed and latched shut again.

Ranta all but sprinted out from behind his cover, followed by the lumbering Moguzo. "Mission success! Come on, don't be shy, hand them over!" Ranta extended a hand, his face a mask of pure greed.

For some reason, Shirou had reservations about letting the smaller boy help out with the washing, and went to the well ignoring the impish pestering of the Dread Knight that hounded him all along the way. After washing, pressing, and hanging the clothes by the fire to dry, he closed his eyes and once again slipped into the trance necessary to perform magecraft. Reaching out and brushing his fingers against the fabric of the hanging clothing in front of him, as Ranta nearby stared, slack-jawed and drooling a little, he began using _Structural Grasp._ While his affinity to swords made this technique perform on them immediately, automatically, and from a distance, using it on other objects still required time and a physical connection. He had just finished inspecting them all, identifying the areas that he would beef up with reinforcement, when a voice snapped him out of his concentration.

"Shirou, I demand an explanation for this." Manato's deadpan voice cut through the night air like a knife.

With the tension suddenly broken, Ranta let out a rattling breath that he had apparently been holding, and Shirou actually thought he saw the glint of a tear or two in the boy's eyes. "A true connoisseur…" Ranta muttered in pure admiration.

Shirou then looked in front of himself again, and realized exactly which small piece of fabric he had just finished _Grasping,_ or, to the uninitiated observer… gently caressing, with a glassy look in his eyes. He gulped, and turned to the stony-faced Manato.

"I-it's not what it looks like."

"I thought better of you, Shirou."

"N-no, really! Watch, I'll prove it! Just let me finish—"

"Not a chance!"

Ranta leaped to Shirou's defense, once again throwing his arm around him like they were best friends. Moguzo vigorously nodded his encouragement behind them. "I think we should give the guy a chance! Come on, Manato, you trust Shirou, don't you? He wouldn't do anything like that! And it's my turn next!"

Shirou shook off the proffered arm, but before he could continue his explanation, Manato snatched away all the clean clothing, walked over to the bath, and knocked again. Shirou sat with his face burning in shame, trying his best to ignore the pitying glances Moguzo and Ranta were shooting him, as Manato spoke softly with Yume in the distance. Shirou couldn't hear what they were saying, and didn't want to reinforce his ears to find out, but whatever it was elicited another loud shriek from inside the bath, which made all three of the other boys flinch, as well as prompting a sleepy-eyed Haruhiro to come see what all the commotion was about.

A few minutes later, both girls emerged from the bath in their freshly cleaned clothes. Shihoru, if anything, looked even more embarrassed than Shirou, her face beet-red and physically trembling as she clutched her mage's staff tightly to her body and refused to meet anybody's eyes. Yume, surprisingly, looked like her usual happy-go-lucky self, like she didn't really care.

Manato, standing in front of Shihoru protectively, once more turned his accusing glare on Shirou, whose own face practically matched his hair at this point.

"You have one minute to explain yourself, before I have you ejected from this lodge as a terrible pervert." Manato's voice came down like a judge's gavel.

"Wait, wait! Watch! I'll show you what I was doing, with my own clothes this time so you don't get the wrong idea!" Shirou protested, and quickly slipped out of his own priest's robe, leaving him shirtless in front of the rest of the group.

This action was met by several more loud shrieks. Shihoru was now practically so red that Shirou could swear steam was coming off of her, but she seemingly couldn't tear her eyes from his exposed – heavily muscled – form.

Yume, who had also exclaimed loudly, gingerly took a few steps towards Shirou, her face now frozen in concern. The boys all stared as well with similar looks of horror and confusion.

"Shirou… what happened to you?" Yume whispered as she extended a hand and gently ran two fingers down his left pectoral muscle, just over his heart. Or, more accurately, she traced the massive, angry red scar that covered it.

He looked down, noticing it for the first time as well. "I… don't know." He couldn't remember – the only memory he could conjure up was a sudden flash of red.

Yume, from where she had silently walked around behind him, traced the matching scar on his back. "This… you shouldn't be alive, Shirou. Your heart…"

Even Shihoru seemed to have forgotten the incident momentarily, as everybody stared at the teenager's impressive collection of scars. It wasn't just the heart, though that was by far the largest. His entire chest and back, and most of his arms, were covered in thin, raised white lines that spoke of far more than a life's worth of battle wounds.

Shirou, uncomfortable under everybody's eyes, shrugged awkwardly and flapped the shirt in his hands. "I don't know, but it's not important. Just let me show you. _Trace: On."_

The English words snapped everybody out of it, and they watched the boy's amber eyes once more take on a glassy hue. A few moments later, during which nobody was really sure what exactly they were supposed to be watching, he blinked a few times and relaxed, before handing his shirt over to Manato.

"Take Haruhiro's knife. Try to cut it."

"Are you sure? You only have the one, after all," Manato asked questioningly as he accepted the proffered knife from the thief. Shirou nodded once.

Manato ran the knife across the fabric, frowned, and did it again. And then several more times. Looking troubled, he handed both items off to Haruhiro, telling the smaller boy to try it. He did, to no avail, and shortly, everybody had the un-cuttable shirt passed around to them.

"What did you do to it?" Manato asked, some of the accusation seeping out of his tone at last.

"It's called reinforcement. I tried to tell you before, I know some magecraft as well. I'm a terrible magus, I only know four mysteries – maybe five – but the ones I do know, I'm very good at. I was planning on reinforcing everybody's clothes tonight for added protection tomorrow."

Shihoru, who herself only knew the spells Magic Missile and Shadow Echo, once more visibly wilted under Shirou's casual dismissal of his own magical knowledge – five spells – as "terrible," prompting Manato to once more put a comforting hand on her shoulder, before he asked "You said you wanted to teach us all magic, right? Why not just teach the girls how to do it, so they could do their own clothes in private?"

Shirou accepted his shirt back from the priest, and slipped it back on, before leaning down and picking up a rock. "It would take too long to teach them properly, though I do plan on doing so eventually. If you put too little prana into the spell, it won't work, and too much…"

The rock in his hand exploded in a small burst of shrapnel.

Ranta's eyes once more shone with a plan. "You mean, if you did it on clothes… Shirou. Teach me that spell."

Haruhiro absently slapped the back of Ranta's head. "Stop thinking weird things, and don't learn things just to purposefully do them wrong."

Shihoru, blushing again, said in a barely audible whisper, "But… did you really have to… my… p-p-p…"

Shirou shook his head sheepishly. "No, you're right. Just the dress would have been fine. I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. In fact, I didn't quite finish, so, if you don't mind…"

Before Shirou could walk towards the flustered girl, Manato blocked his path. "I think we're overlooking the most important question here. Shirou, how do you know magic? They definitely don't teach Reinforcement in the guild, and we only came here with the skills we had from wherever we were before, so… does that mean…?"

"Yes. This was a skill I had before we woke up in that cave."

"But… how? Where we came from, magic didn't…" Manato tapered off. Why did he think that magic wasn't real where he came from? He must have known what it was, at least, or he wouldn't have recognized what a Mage's Guild was… "Man, this all seems like something out of a game, huh? Wait… a game? What even is that…?"

The strange nostalgic feeling swept over everybody again, like a memory only partially grasped before it dissipated.

"Well, I say we forgive him!" Ranta loudly proclaimed. "So, master wizard, what else can you do besides the panty disintegrator/armor strengthener spell?"

"Besides reinforcement, which essentially makes an object more of what it is, I know Structural Grasp, which allows me to read an object's statistics and history, Alteration, which adds properties to an item, and Projection or Gradation Air, which can create an item from air. Although, I have a very specialized alignment and element… which makes Projection situational, at best. Most things cost too much prana for me to be able to easily project."

"Prana?" Shihoru shyly asked. "Is that what you call the mana that mages and priests use to cast their spells?"

"Ah, close enough, I suppose. Mana comes from the atmosphere, Od comes from the body, and both of those can be refined by a body's magic circuits into Prana, which is used to cast spells. But no, that should only apply to mages, I think. Priests should use Sacraments, right?" Shirou turned to Manato questioningly, who prepared to demonstrate his own spell.

"O Light, may Lumiaris' divine protection be upon you… Cure!" Manato's hand began to glow with light, but without a wound to heal, it quickly dissipated.

Shirou looked on and frowned. "Shihoru, would you mind casting a spell for me as well?"

Shihoru fumbled for a moment with her staff, then squeezed her eyes shut and began to chant swiftly in her haste to acquiesce to Shirou's request. " _Oom rel eckt vel dash!"_

She opened her eyes just in time to watch a seaweed-like dark burst of shadow elemental magic fly just over Ranta's head, who fell over with a squawk. "Oy! You big-boobied bitch, watch where you're shooting those things, you almost hit me!"

Haruhiro was quicker on the draw than either Shirou or Manato to defend the Mage as she shrunk back, tears already starting to form again. "You would have deserved it if it did hit you, idiot. She probably aimed it towards you unconsciously because of karma."

Shirou headed off the upcoming argument. "Wait, before we get into that, can anyone tell me whether those two spells were fundamentally the same, or different?"

"Different! As an agent of the dark god Skullheil, even just seeing the magic of Lumiaris makes me sick! Unlike that shadow bolt, which would have been pretty cool if it hadn't been aimed right fucking at me!"

"I suppose you won't be wanting any healing then if you get hurt," Haruhiro said coldly.

"Wha- No! I never said anything like that! I should be healed first! I'm the most important!"

"They were the same," Haruhiro finally answered. "Fundamentally, it looked like both of them just chanted some words, and then magic happened?"

"That's right." Shirou nodded, and then adopted a lecture pose that just seemed right, with one finger up in the air. "The chanting is called an aria, which is a tool used to help a mage self-hypnotize themselves into a state of "believing magic is possible." You can have different arias for different spells, using them as a mnemonic device, or use an all-purpose one. My aria, as you heard, is _Trace: On._ Once entranced, the mage circulates prana through their magic circuits, which is a painful but necessary part of magecraft, and channels that prana into a mystery, an artificial reenactment of a miracle. These mysteries can be learned, through great time and effort, or they can be carved into a magic crest, a type of spiritual tattoo that is passed along from generation to generation, and allows rapid-fire actualization of mysteries. It's like, if you have raw steel, you can shape it into a sword, or an axe, or a spearhead, if you know how – or, if you have a mold for a sword already, you can just pour the steel in directly and get the finished product much faster and easier, without even really knowing how to forge one the traditional way."

Shihoru and Manato, at this point, both were clearly confused, but Manato was the only one brave enough to cut off the redhead's ramblings. "Shirou, that's… no. That's completely wrong. The words we use aren't just a mnemonic, they have to be pronounced exactly, or the spell doesn't work at all, even if you really believe it will – I know, I've messed up the incantation before without realizing it, and nothing happened. Likewise, I'm definitely not hypnotizing myself, there's no pain when I cast a spell, just fatigue if I cast too many, and I think I speak for Shihoru as well when I say that neither of us got any kind of tattoos."

Now it was Shirou's turn to frown. "Wait. You aren't using magic circuits?"

Both of the other magic users shook their heads.

"Hold on, can I just quick check something? I'll need to touch one of you. I promise it won't hurt."

Shihoru stepped forward before he was even finished speaking, and Shirou tapped her lightly on the arm, using Structural Grasp, and then frowned heavily.

"This… for just having cast a spell, your body isn't resisting my prana at all, like there's none even circulating… There are circuits here, a high amount and quality even, but they're dormant?! This…" He pulled back, looking at the timid girl and the priest beside her with amazement. "High speed divine words?!"

Nobody else really knew how to react to Shirou's exclamation, so Ranta decided to fill the silence. "Did you just completely analyze Shihoru's body using the Structure spell you mentioned?"

"Yes?"

Ranta got down on one knee in front of Shirou. "Master. I will do anything you ask of me. I have but one request: You must teach me these wonderful, amazing, perfect spells. I will not be able to rest until I too know the spells Panty Disintegrator and Three Sizes Discovery."

Shirou thought that Shihoru might pop a blood vessel at this rate if she continued blushing so heavily and so often. "I think that's maybe enough excitement for one night. We should all get some rest, and I'll make breakfast in the morning for all of us before we go hunting. But I was wrong about one thing, Shihoru, Manato. You aren't just geniuses, to be able to learn magecraft in under a week. You're both supreme geniuses, to be able to utilize High Speed Divine Words… Your magecraft is so far above my own that there's no way I'll be able to learn the spells you can do. This truly must be the Age of Gods, for me to have found not one, but two practitioners of such immense skill. I'll try to teach you what I know as well, however insignificant it may be, but I'll never be able to reach the same level as you both."

Shihoru swooned from such earnest praise, to be caught by Yume, who now that Shirou noticed, was pouting a little. Haruhiro and Moguzo also looked a little put off. "Ah, that is, not to say the rest of you aren't just as skilled. I'm sure that you'll all manage to surprise me tomorrow!" Ranta, of course, hadn't even been paying attention, busy fantasizing about his soon to come magical powers.

With Shirou's words of encouragement fresh in their minds, everybody went to bed content and excited for what the next day would bring.


	4. Chapter 4

Shirou, true to his words, was incredibly surprised by his party's performance in combat.

The day had started nicely, as he woke up and prepared some of the groceries from the previous night into a delicious… Japanese? Style breakfast, which the rest of his party members who slowly woke up one by one greatly appreciated.

Manato shook his head wryly as he looked down at the delicious omelet he had just bit into. "And he can cook, too, huh? How's a guy even supposed to compete?" He spared a glance over at the curvy mage who was letting out moans of pure delight as she tasted her own food.

Everyone finished their food and suited up, with Shirou taking a moment to check on each of them and spending some of his Prana reserves to strengthen their clothing, armor, and weapons. He cautioned them that if they were wearing cloth, even if the fabric might protect them from cuts, it wouldn't stop blunt force from being transferred through, or from a piercing attack just driving the reinforced fabric into a wound if it was strong enough. Finally, he had told them that for their first few fights, he was going to take on an observing role and only step in if somebody seemed like they were in danger, so that he could analyze their fighting styles and help them work together efficiently. Haruhiro looked pleased that someone was stepping into a leadership position, but Manato seemed a little rankled at taking orders from Shirou. Regardless, they all set out into the forests surrounding Altana to search for what was supposedly the weakest of the monsters that threatened humanity: The Mud Goblin, or mudgob for short.

Shirou, from his position at the back of the group where he walked with strung bow, thought that part of the reason why they hadn't found any goblins yet was perhaps because of the intense banter going on amongst the group, which he tried to stay out of for the most part. Yume and Ranta went at each other, with the former blaming the latter for being the reason that they hadn't seen any of the local wildlife, and Ranta retaliating by calling the girl flat. This led to a frantic Dread Knight apologizing profusely at arrow-point, only to immediately resume his name calling once safe. The bickering finally stopped when Ranta started yelping and jumping up and down like he was dancing, with some sort of small black creature, about the size of a rat, clinging to his leg.

"A pit rat!" Yume exclaimed, glancing around. "They normally attack in packs, so there's probably more around!" She yelled, struggling to be heard over Ranta's screaming "getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!"

At this, Shihoru yelped, and tried to run off in a random direction without looking where she was going, which led to her smacking directly into Moguzo, who didn't budge an inch, sending her down to her bottom.

"Fight, all of you! This is your first test!" Shirou yelled, attempting to rally the troops as suddenly a small swarm of pit rats emerged from the forest around them.

What followed, Shirou could only describe as a comedy of errors. The pit rats were too weak to tear through the group's reinforced clothing and armor, though their bites would probably leave nasty bruises, so Shirou decided to sit back completely as they didn't really pose any threat. And after all, if they couldn't fight rats, they certainly weren't ready to fight anything else.

Haruhiro was slashing and stabbing wildly with his dagger. Without finesse or any kind of strategy, it was impossible for him to hit any of the oversized rodents. Moguzo was trying to save Ranta from the rat that was still sunk into the redhead's leg with large, smashing cleaves of his sword that Ranta was barely managing to dodge, making Moguzo a bigger threat to life and safety than any of the rats really were. In between dodging the huge boy's strikes, Ranta was swinging wildly with his own sword, almost identically to Haruhiro, and with matching results. With a short incantation, Shihoru fired off a spell, a small ball of light that directly impacted the back of Ranta's head. The boy bemoaned the fact that all his teammates were trying to kill him, and diverted his attention from the pit rats entirely, starting to chase after Shihoru, who screamed and ran away again. This in turn distracted Manato, who spared a moment from using his staff against the rats – not entirely without skill, Shirou noted, but still not enough to actually land a hit one of them – to trip the Dread Knight. Yume… Shirou sighed. She, too, was swinging her kukri around wildly. Meanwhile, one of Moguzo's stray blows impacted a tree heavily, showering him in leaves and insects from above.

Finally, the fight ended as Haruhiro sacrificed himself heroically, waiting still until a pit rat sank his teeth into his leg for Manato to bash it away. At the sight of their first casualty, the rest of the rats scampered away.

Manato looked around for someone to heal, and despite the fact that nobody was bleeding, cast a few spells to heal the worst of the bruising on Haruhiro and Ranta, before spinning angrily on Shirou.

"What's the matter with you? You didn't help at all. We could have been seriously hurt!"

Shirou met Manato's glare unflinchingly. "I needed to see how you all would react under pressure. You won't grow if I do everything myself, and I need you all to be self-sufficient so that I can rest assured you won't need saving." He glanced around at the rest of the crew, who all looked rather demoralized. "First of all, Shihoru. No matter how impressed I am by your Divine Words, you need to be able to cast them with your eyes open, ok? It was alright since it was a weak spell, but what if it had been something really dangerous and you hit one of your teammates by mistake?"

The girl looked down dejectedly, and Shirou could tell that tears were threatening to spill forth again.

"Don't worry about it, ok? I'll help you train, later tonight. Just do your best today, and I'll make sure you can do it by morning. Now, Moguzo." He turned to the tall boy, who was still panting from his overexertion with his longsword. "Learn finesse. Conserve your energy. If you get tired out before you can even hit your enemy, you'll be easy pickings. And I feel like it doesn't need to be said, but don't swing at your teammates even if an enemy is on them. Actually, the first part of that applies to the three of you as well," he said while nodding towards Haruhiro, Yume, and Ranta. "Attack when you see an opening where you can hit your target, don't just swing wildly. If you do, it'll just leave openings in your guard that anything smarter than a rat will easily exploit. Yume, good thinking using your kukri instead of your bow in such a dense and chaotic melee. Haruhiro, good plan at the end, it's thanks to you I didn't have to interfere. Finally, Manato. Good staff work." He sighed as he finished his assessment. "I'm not going to lie, overall that was quite bad. Nobody even tried working together, until Manato and Haruhiro at the very end, and even then it was only thanks to Manato seizing the opportunity that Haruhiro's sacrifice wasn't in vain. And what are they even teaching you in those guilds? Wild swings are not a combat style."

The rest of the group grew more and more surly as Shirou offered his honest analysis. Finally, Manato snapped a bit. "And you, Shirou, did nothing. We can't even critique your skill back because you were too high and mighty to show it to us. Your reinforcement is useful, sure, but as far as actually being useful in combat, how do we know you're not just a poser? A real paladin wouldn't stand in the back and watch their friends be hurt."

Shirou looked conflicted at the priest's accusations. "Fine. Next time, I'll take the lead, alright? But after that, you have to trust me. I want you all to get better, to become strong."

Manato accepted Shirou's promise on the group's behalf, even though he still looked a little annoyed, and they decided to continue exploring the forest. At one point, they saw a deer, which Shirou encouraged Yume to take a shot at, but she wildly missed, making Shirou grimace and promising to take her aside for training as well that night.

Once more in the day, they were attacked by pit rats. The group reacted a bit more professionally, and Shirou had no doubt that they would have been able to fend them off with no trouble, but Manato shot Shirou a triumphant glare that made the redhead sigh and draw an arrow from his quiver.

In a high stance, he drew back the arrow, and waited until the first pit rat was only a few feet from the party before releasing. The arrow impacted directly between the beast's eyes, killing it instantly, and the rest of the swarm immediately attempted to turn tail and run. As they did so, Shirou drew three more arrows, firing them gracefully one at a time, each a perfect shot to the vitals that instantly killed a rat. Finally, he turned to take in the expressions of the rest of the party, who for the most part were watching the performance in awe. Only Manato bore a look of disappointment, like he'd wanted Shirou to fail, to miss. Shirou nodded to him, as if to ask whether he'd proven himself, and received a grudging nod in return.

After the second incident, Shirou decided that it was probably time to return home. Despite not having found any monsters, and it still being fairly early in the day, only around five o'clock, he promised he could at least cook up the pit rats he'd slain into something tasty and save them a bit of money on food, to which Moguzo looked a little green. True to his word, however, by the time the sun set around seven, nobody could find anything to complain about in the meal he'd prepared, which they had to admit was even better than most of what they would have been able to get in the marketplace. With some time left before they had to sleep, he then declared that it was time to train.

He took Yume aside first, fashioning a straw target on one side of the courtyard, and gesturing for her to try her shot, which missed completely, leading Shirou to explain the philosophy of archery to his protégé.

"You're thinking too hard about hitting the target. Focus on your form, making sure the act of shooting is perfect. You shouldn't even have to think about the target if it's standing still – so long as your form and technique are perfect, it stands to reason that there is no other result but 'the target is hit.'"

He had her go through all the motions of planting her feet and properly positioning her body, gently molding her stance with his hands until he was satisfied. He had her raise the bow until it was held just slightly above her head, and had her hold it there until her arm grew weak and she had to lower it again, and had her repeat the process for a few more minutes. Next came the draw, which was simultaneous with the lowering of the bow until it was even with the target, using her left pointer finger to set her sights, also performed for several repetitions. Finally, when the string was drawn all the way back near her cheek, came the release, as he instructed her to simply loosen her fingers, without trying to catch or tug at the string. With a thud, the arrow impacted the very outer edge of the square block of hay.

Yume instantly dropped the bow, raised both arms to the heavens, and let loose with a howl of excitement as Shirou politely clapped from behind her. She jumped up and down a few times, swept him into a big bear hug and spun him around, and then went back to jumping.

"Yume's never hit the target before! Yume's gonna prove her master wrong, and show everyone that she can be a good hunter after all!"

Finally, she managed to calm down a little bit. "Good job, Yume, but keep practicing," he told her. "Try to make the motions instinctual, and work on making them perfect. This style is good for an opening sniper shot, but if you want to be able to use it even in a fight, you need to practice until the technique is second nature to you."

"Thank you, Shirou. Yume will." She offered him a huge smile in thanks, and Shirou couldn't help but smile back. Another little half memory… something about a smile, and wanting to save people… _They just don't stop coming, do they?_ Shirou thought. _It's amazing how much past experiences can shape you, even if you don't remember them._

As Yume settled back into the almost meditative breathing pattern of concentration necessary for archery, Shirou went and fetched Shihoru from where she'd been taking a brief rest in her room. She looked nervous but excited at the prospect of private lessons with Shirou, and waited patiently as he set up another target on the opposite end of the courtyard from Yume.

"Alright, Shihoru. We're going to focus on a few things. First of all, endurance. By casting spells repeatedly here, you should be able to increase your capability to cast many in the field. Second, accuracy, just like Yume over there is practicing, and finally, performance under pressure."

Seeing that she was already getting a little shaky from nerves, Shirou took one of her hands in his own, which ceased the shaking entirely as she suddenly froze in place completely. "Shihoru. You can do this, trust me. Anybody capable of mastering High Speed Divine words and casting without a magic circuit is a genius of magecraft, and to do so in only a week is just plain incredible. Why don't you start with just trying to hit the target, and we'll see where it goes from there?"

Shihoru took a few calming breaths, did her best to ignore the fact that Shirou was watching her, and incanted " _Mark em Parc!"_ while gesturing with her staff. The same ball of light that she'd hit Ranta with earlier impacted just to the left of the center of the target with a strength similar to that of a solid punch, and Shihoru let out the breath she didn't even know she had been holding in relief.

"Good. Again." Shirou's voice startled her into action again. With each spell, she managed to hit the target, until on her sixth cast, Shirou grabbed her by the shoulders from behind and yelled "Boo!" Just as she was about to release the spell

With a shriek, she clenched her eyes shut again, and the ball of light went off in a wild direction, shooting through an open window on the second floor of the complex from which a muffled, "Ahh, what the fuck?!" was heard. _Interesting, she really does seem to accidentally target Ranta a lot,_ Shirou thought to himself. "You need to be able to handle distractions, even when you're afraid," he scolded her gently as she trembled. "Keep going. I'm going to try and distract you again at random intervals, but every time you close your eyes again, it'll be ten push-ups!"

Before the hour was out, Shihoru could barely feel her arms anymore and she collapsed onto her back, staring up at the night sky and the crimson moon. On the bright side, the fact that she wasn't physically capable anymore of doing what Shirou demanded of her nonetheless was a powerful incentive to keep her eyes open, even as Shirou threw hay in her face, grabbed and poked at her from all directions, and made loud noises. After a certain point, he had enlisted a bored Moguzo to continue the distractions, while he himself crouched behind the target and carried it from left to right, and then he had her try to hit it while both she and the target were moving. By the time she collapsed in exhaustion, feeling a little bullied, Shirou was pleased with her progress.

As she lay gasping for breath, joined by Yume who sat at her side, Shirou gathered up all the boys for their own training. "Alright Haruhiro, Moguzo, Ranta. Frankly, you need a lot more practice fighting, so that's what we're gonna do. Practice bouts against each other, to get used to fighting against smart, humanoid opponents. Manato and I will be training with you as well, but you should probably practice amongst each other first, until you're closer to our level."

Manato sharply turned towards Shirou, surprised both at the lack of pride such boastful words were said in, and that Shirou was placing the other boy at his own level. "Won't that be dangerous? Even if not for us, won't our equipment be damaged at the very least?"

Shirou shook his head. "Remember that other spell I told you I know? Projection? _Trace: On."_ With a wave of his hand, four wooden weapons clattered to the ground in front of him – a dagger, a sword, a longsword, and a staff, all blunted.

"Neat," Haruhiro commented as he grabbed the dagger, prompting the rest to grab their own weapons as well. "This should let us save on our equipment, huh?"

Shirou shook his head again. "They… should… disappear in a couple of hours. I don't think I can make permanent equipment like this. And besides, I can only really make swords, with other weapons costing way more prana, armor and shields even more than that, and objects unrelated to war only at an obscene energy cost."

Haruhiro accepted the explanation, and then looked for who to pair off with, but Ranta and Moguzo were already squaring off in the middle of the courtyard. The first battle was over soon after it started, with the smaller boy cursing as he was forced to the ground before the giant.

"Ranta, you don't have the strength to go toe to toe with someone stronger than you. Focus on your agility, wait to dart in either as he winds up for a large swing or just after you've dodged one. Haruhiro, you're up next."

Haruhiro seemingly took Shirou's advice for Ranta as well. Keeping out of range of the longsword was easy for the lightly armored thief, and he allowed Moguzo to tire himself out with heavy swings before finally darting in just as he wound up for a [Rage Cleave], or whatever the Warrior's Guild was calling a basic diagonal slash these days, and stabbing Moguzo's wrist with the basic thief skill, [Hit]. I mean, really? They weren't even trying with that one. Regardless, it was effective, and Moguzo's loosened grip at the height of his backswing sent his sword flying backwards out of his hands, and Haruhiro, looking surprised at his own victory, quickly had his wooden dagger to Moguzo's throat.

"Nice, Haruhiro. Moguzo, don't overcommit to attacks that don't have a good chance of landing. Ranta, you and Haruhiro are next."

The third fight was by far the longest. Ranta was too quick for the same strategy to work for Haruhiro again, which led to a lot of them dancing around each other and trying to get in a quick blow. In the end, even if Haruhiro was a little faster, Ranta's much longer reach was enough to rack up enough smaller bruises on his opponent that Haruhiro was eventually forced to concede.

"Oh! Yume gets it! It's kinda like rock paper scissors, huh?"

Shirou was forced to admit that it did seem like a rather sound analogy for what they'd just witnessed. "Good win, Ranta. Yume's kind of right. Moguzo, your ideal opponent is somebody who thinks of themselves as strong, but that you can still overpower – which considering your own strength, should be most people you fight. Watch out for people who are even bigger and stronger than you, though, because the same thing will happen to you if you test your strength against somebody you aren't ready for, at least until you can make up the difference in skill. Haruhiro, at the opposite end of the spectrum, you want to look out for high power targets of opportunity that you can outmaneuver and land a telling blow on, but your lack of strength and reach makes you a sitting duck for anybody who can match you in speed. Ranta, you're best as a skirmisher who darts in and out of the front lines, not really testing your strength or speed against anybody, just targeting whoever looks most exposed with quick hit and run tactics. Now, which of you wants to fight Manato?"

"Actually," the priest cut him off, "I would rather fight you."

Shirou thought for a moment, and then nodded along. "Sure, it could be a good teamwork exercise. All four of you against me."

Haruhiro sputtered a little bit from where he was gulping down some water from the well. "Sorry, Shirou, you want to fight us four vs. one?"

Manato himself narrowed his eyes a bit. "You're good with a bow, I'll give you that, but you're an arrogant bastard if you think you can take us all on in melee. I know for a fact you didn't learn a single combat skill at the Paladin's guild."

Shirou just shrugged. "I wasn't trying to brag or anything. I just think it'll be a good test of your teamwork. Come at me, I'm ready when you are."

The other boys gathered up their weapons again, and stood in a loose circle around the still unarmed redhead, sizing him up. By now, Shihoru had gathered enough energy to sit up again, and still leaning heavily on Yume, watched the growing fight with bated breath.

Ranta was predictably the first to charge in, with a fierce battle cry, despite Shirou's recent advice that he wait for targets of opportunity, but he was avoided with a lazy sidestep. The other three had rushed forwards just after Ranta had, with Moguzo taking the front and Manato and Haruhiro trying to maneuver around Shirou's flanks. As Ranta passed, Shirou extended a foot, causing the Dread Knight to stumble and roll forward into Moguzo's legs, slowing the giant's advance. Temporarily facing only two opponents now, Shirou suddenly turned and sprinted directly away from Manato and towards Haruhiro, much faster than the thief had expected. Tracing a bokken for himself as he ran, he brought his blade down in a slash aimed not for the head, which Haruhiro desperately raised his dagger above his head to protect, but the arm to the left of the dagger Shirou had correctly predicted would be there. If he hadn't pulled back at the last second, he would have shattered Haruhiro's wrist, and even as it was the brunette was easily disarmed, and the simulated slash across the throat that Shirou performed with a dagger he'd projected for himself in his off-hand left Haruhiro with no illusions about whether or not he was still in the fight.

Shirou continued his run for a few more paces before sliding to a stop and spinning to face the others, as Haruhiro, with a surprising flair for the dramatic considering his usual role as the party's straight man, exaggeratedly toppled to the ground "dead." Manato had slowed his own charge after seeing what had happened, and waited for Moguzo and Ranta to catch up behind him. "Alright," he growled, "Maybe surrounding him was a bad idea. We all attack from the front, that way he can't divide us like that again." The trio advanced, a little more warily this time, at their now armed and proven dangerous quarry. As they neared, Shirou darted to the left – Ranta's side – as he kicked up a cloud of dust into the Dread Knight's eyes. With the enraged and temporarily blinded boy between him and his target, Manato attempted to circle around Ranta and swung with his staff, but Shirou easily parried the technically sound but well telegraphed attack with the sword in one hand as he delivered a powerful side thrust kick to Ranta's undefended chest, once more sending him flying into the approaching Moguzo. The only difference was that this time, as Shirou leaped over their prone forms to put distance between himself and Manato again, only Moguzo struggled to his feet again, with his small friend still lying in the dirt gasping for air.

"Bastard! Fight fair!" Manato yelled as he advanced again, spinning his staff. Shirou just let out a small chuckle at that as he dropped his wooden dagger, projecting a steel one as he did so. At this, Shihoru let out a loud gasp from the sidelines, and Manato visibly paused. Shirou looked at him disapprovingly as he ran his left thumb across the edge of the wickedly sharp knife before letting it dissipate, and said calmly "To hesitate on the battlefield means death." Anger renewed, Manato resumed his advance, but as the priest approached, Shirou held out the bokken straight in front of him and then flipped it around so the other side of the blade was facing Manato – upon which was engraved a small hexagram, smeared with fresh blood. The night sky was suddenly lit by a dazzling gleam coming from Shirou's sword, and Manato was left suddenly blinded as his eyes struggled to adjust. He backpedaled rapidly so Shirou couldn't close with him as he rubbed his eyes desperately, but the blinding light didn't seem to be moving from where it had originated. By the time he could once again make out his surroundings, an agonizing few seconds later, he realized that the bokken had been thrust into the ground in front of him, and whirled to see another wooden blade being pulled across Moguzo's throat from behind, and yet another one stabbing into the ground besides a still gasping Ranta for good measure.

Alone, Manato could do nothing more than charge at the man – no, the _monster_ before him. This time, he was met with no tricks, no evasions, just a stony faced killer who casually blocked even his most powerful swings with a freshly projected wooden bastard sword. In desperation, all he could do was increase the strength of his blows, and as each successive strike was blocked just as _contemptuously_ as the rest, his hands grew a little more numb, until his staff was swatted out of his hands and sent spinning off into the distance. He fell to his knees in defeat, and felt smooth, cold wood glide across his neck as Shirou stared down at him with utterly merciless eyes.

Shirou paused as he realized that everybody present was staring at him, with a mix of awe and horror in their eyes, and attempted to break the tension by teaching. "When outnumbered, divide and conquer. Take out threats as fast as possible, and don't let them gang up on you – the faster you kill, the faster the odds are back in your favor. If possible, use your enemies against each other – force them to get in each other's ways, make them pull their blows for fear of hitting their friends. If you're on the other side, outnumbering a single foe, don't let them do the same to you – focus on protecting those beside you more than taking out your enemies hastily – you have time to be cautious, they don't. Finally, use every advantage in a fight, no matter what's fair. Honor doesn't matter to the dead."

"Where did you learn all this, Shirou? Magic, fighting… all those scars… what were you, Shirou? What are you?" Yume asked with tears of compassion and pity coming to her eyes as she struggled to imagine just what kind of hardships would forge someone into the type of person that Shirou was.

Shirou flinched from her pitying gaze. "I don't know what I was, Yume. Or what I am."

"I-I think Shirou is our friend. Umm, now, that is," Shihoru stuttered out.

"Well, I'm glad he's on our side, I guess," Ranta wheezed, having finally recovered from having the wind knocked out of him. "With a training regimen like that, the Dark Lord Ranta will be the strongest around in no time!"

"Get some sleep, all of you. You've earned it," Shirou gently ordered. "Another day of hunting tomorrow. Manato, I think some people would appreciate it if you would heal their bruises before bed."

The silky haired priest quietly complied as Shirou rinsed himself off with cold well-water. He heard everybody else slowly filing up to their rooms, too tired to even wash themselves after their exertion, but turned around at the sound of soft footsteps approaching to see Shihoru coming up behind him. "Shirou-sempai… could I make a request?" She asked nervously.

"Of course, you don't even have to ask," he reassured her.

"Seeing you fight, like that… without fear in your eyes… can you make me strong like that too?" Her earnest gaze was tinted by fear and hope in equal measures. "I don't want to be scared anymore, Shirou. Ever since we got here, I've been terrified, terrified that I can't remember who I am or where I came from, terrified that I was forced to fight, that I might get hurt… that any of us might get hurt. So please, please, teach me to be strong like that too!" The speech, the longest Shirou had ever heard from the shy mage, was rambling faster as she built up steam and as tears made their way to the surface. "I'll do anything, any training you want me to, just please take away the fear!"

By now, the tears were flowing freely, and Shirou really didn't know how to handle the situation. He awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder, and was surprised as she threw herself forward against him in response. He lowered his arms down around her and gently squeezed as she sobbed into his chest. "Why, Shirou? Why are you even here? You're too strong to be with us… too strong for even Renji's group, probably! You could be with any group you wanted, so why…" The sobs started to quiet down as she trailed off, until finally she was just hiccupping, but she made no move to pull away, so Shirou kept her wrapped in the hug.

"The only thing I've ever wanted was to save people," Shirou said as he gazed off into the sky over Shihoru's head. "You, Shihoru, you and everyone else… you looked like you needed saving."

Shihoru looked up at him, her face red and puffy from the tears, and asked "So if you saw somebody else that needed saving… you would leave us?"

Shirou grimaced. "To save one means not saving another, huh…? No. I won't leave you. I've already committed to saving you all, and if staying by your side no matter what comes is what that takes, then I promise that's what I'll do."

"Thank you," the tiny mage whispered into the magus' chest.

"If you wake up early, tomorrow… I'll meet you in the courtyard. I'll teach you how to become a proper magus."

Shirou felt her nod into his chest, but not long after that, as he realized that she hadn't moved in a while, he discovered that she'd fallen asleep standing up while propped against him. Gently, so as not to wake her up, he swept her up into his arms and carried her up to hers and Yume's room. The hunter was still awake, waiting for her roommate to return, and as Shirou laid Shihoru down on her bed, Yume looked down on him from the upper bunk with another of those wonderfully wide, genuine smiles, and nodded her head gratefully at him before he turned to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Manato was glad that the tavern in Altana was open all night long. As he slowly trudged back towards the reserve force lodge about an hour before sunrise, he couldn't help but revisit his humiliating defeat the previous night. The other boy was skilled, that was for sure. Why had he bothered to set him up as being on his level then? Did he plan from the start to prop him up, only to make himself look better when he finally brought him low?

He clenched his fists. Manato didn't remember anything more about himself than any of the others did, but he was pretty sure that he was the type of person who really didn't like deferring to others and taking orders from higher-ups. If he was being honest with himself, he had become a priest not because he was selfless, but because it felt _good_ when others relied on him, it made him feel important. He didn't ask for Shirou's approval when he decided that he would be both the party healer as well as a melee combatant – he just wanted to be able to show off his worth. And if it earned him the affection of one or two cute girls, well…

There was a reason Renji hadn't picked him for his party. He was at least as strong as Adachi, he was sure of that. Physically speaking, he was the fourth largest of the boys from the larger group, only falling behind Moguzo, Renji, and Ron, but when Renji had looked him over, he had seen the defiance smoldering within him and found him wanting. Even that felt good, like recognition from Renji that Manato was somebody too strong to be controlled. Unlike that damn swordsman's pity, who grouped him together with all the rest as just unwanted leftovers. It wasn't as if he could just up and leave for another group, either, as that would not only make him lose face with his current group, but it wasn't like he would just be accepted as a leader elsewhere either.

All of that led to his current situation: hungover, and rapidly hemorrhaging what meager coin he still had left. Buying rounds for everyone in the tavern wasn't necessarily wise, but at least it endeared him to the other patrons, and he had some drinks bought for him in return. Maybe he could surpass Shirou that way – the power of networking. He chuckled a little bit as he walked. Who knew? A little rumor here or there couldn't exactly be fought with swords.

As he slipped inside the lodge as silently as he could manage, he was surprised to see both Ranta and Moguzo crouched behind one of the pillars surrounding the courtyard, just at the bottom of the stairs. Moguzo was still blearily wiping the sleep from his eyes, but Ranta looked bright and attentive, and was making wild gestures that seemed to convey that Manato should come and join them, but quietly.

Curiosity piqued, he crouched down besides the two, and whispered "What is it?"

"Shh! Listen for yourself!" Ranta whispered back, pointing towards the courtyard from which muted conversation could be heard.

"…since it's your first time, it'll be very painful. Even afterwards, it will hurt, but not nearly as much. Are you sure you really want me to do this?" The owner of the first voice was unmistakably Shirou.

"Y-yes, I'm sure… I want this." And the other, of course, was Shihoru.

"Very well. I need to touch you, is that alright?"

"O-of course, go ahead… Please be gentle…"

They were talking about… Manato felt heat rush to his head. They had known each other for a _week!_ Already?!

"Alright, I've found them… They're unusually high quality, Shihoru. You should be proud."

All three boys eavesdropping could only imagine what was happening in front of them, but were too afraid to try and peek lest they be seen – especially after the beating they'd received the previous night. "That man is a god, I tell you. Damn, it, I'm jealous. Shihoru's unusually high quality…" Ranta muttered as he made squeezing motions with his hands, his eyes glazed over as he lost himself in fantasy. His outburst drowned out a few of Shirou's next words, but when they heard him continue…

"…putting in a little of my own, first. It should kick-start the process into motion. Your body will react violently at first, trying to expel the foreign intrusion, but once everything is flowing properly, the worst you should feel is a dull burning or numbness. Just remember, I'll be right here the whole time."

"I trust you, Shirou…"

There wasn't even any passion in his voice, damn it! Manato grit his teeth together. This will not stand! Such things, in public no less!

"Stop!" Before he even realized he was doing so, he was striding out from behind the pillar, calling out to save Shihoru from the attentions of that pervert, snapping Ranta from his reverie as he did so, who looked at him with the most genuine expression of hurt and betrayal he'd ever seen on the small boy. Ranta dove for him as he moved, trying to stop him, but he was too late, Manato had already turned the corner, only to see…

Shihoru, now propping herself up from where she had been lying on a towel spread over the dewy grass, looking at him curiously… and Shirou, sitting in seiza style next to her with a finger lightly touching her on the forehead with a matching expression.

"Oh, good morning Manato. You were up early, you weren't in your bed when I checked."

"Don't try and change the subject, Shirou! Just what do you think you're doing?"

"This? You're welcome to watch, if you want, but I must insist that you let us both concentrate. I'm sure Shihoru would appreciate someone to hold her other hand."

There was a sputtering and choking sound as Ranta spilled out from behind the pillar at that, unable to restrain himself anymore, followed by a concerned Moguzo heavily patting his friend on the back.

Manato recoiled as if he'd been slapped. "As if I'll allow this to continue! Let alone hold her hand – what kind of pervert do you take me for!?"

Shihoru, who looked a little hurt that Manato had rejected the idea of helping comfort her, looked at Ranta and Moguzo as well and said "A-all of you are here? Now I'm a little nervous… but it's okay, Manato. I want this. I asked him to do this. I'm sure he'll do it for you too, if you want."

Ranta began clawing at his eyes in the background as this new image forced itself unbidden into his fantasies, and Manato froze in shock. "What."

"I was just about to open Shihoru's magic circuits," Shirou explained. "By inserting foreign prana into the system, it will have no choice but to circulate its own prana in response to get rid of mine. It's an uncomfortable process, but afterwards, she should be able to open them and run her own energy through them at will."

"So… that thing about her 'abnormally high quality'…" Manato glanced down at Shihoru's notable assets momentarily, but luckily she didn't seem to notice.

"Her circuits. She has sixteen of them, which is really a lot for a first generation magus, and they're of a much higher quality than mine."

"How many do you have?" Shihoru asked.

"Twenty-seven, but each of my circuits only has about a third of the capacity of one of yours, which means your maximum output will be just a little under a hundred and fifty percent of mine."

The boys were still trying to process the sudden break between their perceptions and reality.

"If you don't mind, could you all start breakfast then? I'll be busy regulating Shihoru's prana flow," Shirou asked.

Moguzo seemed excited at the prospect. The large boy liked to cook, and he'd been a little upset that Shirou had been monopolizing the kitchen over the past few days, but was too polite to say anything about it. Ranta begrudgingly agreed to help him out and started chopping vegetables, his head still a little lost in the clouds, but Manato just leaned back against the other side of the pillar he'd been hiding behind with crossed arms and a disapproving glare as he prepared to watch the ritual.

"Ah, Shirou, how exactly will you be inserting your Prana?" Shihoru asked, realizing that that had been glossed over in the initial explanation.

"Well, the easiest way would be through the, er, exchange of bodily fluids… nothing crazy, it would only take a little, but it can be a little gross if you're squeamish about ingesting a little blood or saliva." He took the expression she was making to mean that she was, indeed, averse to the idea. "The alternative would be this."

With a soft blue glow emitting from his hand, he projected what looked to be a miniature sword, about the size of a thumbtack, with a needle thin blade. "My projections, as objects composed of crystallized prana, can work as conductors as well. I'd have to prick you with this, and leave it in for the whole ritual, but it shouldn't hurt too much compared to the pain of your circuits themselves."

The more Shirou talked, the more nervous Shihoru got, but she reminded herself that she needed to face her fears – and that Shirou would think less of her if she backed out now – and nodded resolutely.

Shirou paused, the needle hovering only an inch away from her smooth skin, and looked at her gravely. "I said this once before, Shihoru, but to be a magus is to walk with death. Some of the things I'm going to teach you are dangerous, both to yourself and others. Before I continue, I want you to promise me that you won't experiment with your magic unless you're under my direct supervision. If the magic the guild taught you is like pulling the trigger on a… crossbow, I suppose, a specific action that results in the same powerful effect every time, then mine is more like using a bow. The way you draw it and release it will affect the projectile… what I'm trying to say is that it's malleable, and easy to let it get away from you if you aren't careful. You could hurt yourself or others. Do you understand?"

She nodded again, even more firmly, and Shirou slipped the needle into the vein in the crook of her arm, which only felt like a slight pinch.

"Now just remember to breathe, ok?" He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and began to release a trickle of prana into her bloodstream.

It didn't hurt too badly, Shihoru thought at first. It was more like the feeling one got when getting a vaccination… whatever a vaccination was. She could feel Shirou's energy spreading up her arm until it reached her heart, where it was diffused through the rest of her body, like a slightly cold and tingling cloud. When it reached her head, she felt for a moment that her mouth tasted something almost metallic, but the taste was quickly forgotten as something… _lurched_ into motion inside of her. That it hurt was obvious, Shirou had warned her of that much, but what took her by surprise was _how_ it hurt. It was a pain unlike anything she'd felt before – certainly not the sensation of molten metal running through veins that Shirou had told her he'd experienced. It didn't burn, or freeze, or ache, or, stab, and yet somehow it was all of those at the same time. She realized at some point that she'd curled up into a ball, that tears were running down her cheeks, but that besides that, her expression was perfectly calm.

While still detachedly trying to categorize the pain, she saw Manato shouting at Shirou again, whose own face was as calm as always, before storming away. She saw Yume and Haruhiro crouching near her in concern, and realized that they must have woken up at some point. In fact, everybody else seemed to stop by at least once – even Ranta, she noted with surprise. She felt the tingling stop when the last bit of Shirou's prana had been eroded away, which was a shame, because that had at least been a reference point compared to the indescribable pain she was feeling elsewhere. Finally, the pain began to ebb as whatever was swirling around inside her finally began to slow down. When it stopped completely, she lay there for a few moments more before she realized the pain was gone completely, and with a deep breath, she uncurled and sat up.

Shirou was watching her with a soft smile. "You did it, Shihoru. You're a proper magus now, as well as a user of magic from the Age of Gods."

"I feel… the same?" She responded, looking down at her hands as if she expected them to transform before her eyes.

"Well, with your circuits closed, you're still just a human like everybody else," Shirou chuckled. "For now, it's impressive just that you've taken this first step. I'll try to teach you some of the basics tonight. For today, just focus on what you practiced last night – I'm sure it'll come even easier today. Anybody brave enough to go through having their circuits opened is brave enough to cast a magic missile at a rat with their eyes open."

Shihoru couldn't help but smile as well at his good-natured teasing, and went to join the others at breakfast, where Yume quickly tackled her into a hug.

"Yume knew you could do it! So now you're strong like Shirou, huh? You can beat all seven of us in a fight together?"

"You counted Shihoru as being on your side as well, even when fighting Shihoru…" Haruhiro deadpanned over Shihoru's stuttered protestations.

"Bullshit! I'm going next, it didn't look that bad! So you cried on the ground for half an hour, so what? Anybody can do that! Hey, Shirou, do me too right now! Wait, no, I mean, turn me on too. Wait! Shut up!" Ranta's tirade stumbled to a halt as he grew flustered.

"Nobody even said anything yet, but now that you mention it…" Haruhiro smiled as well, and Moguzo let out a chuckle as he doled out portions of food in front of Shirou and Shihoru.

Manato didn't quite seem to share the good mood, and was hungover besides. He excused himself after only a cursory congratulations to the newly dubbed magus and went to his room to get ready for the day's excursion.

"Hey."

Manato turned to see Haruhiro standing in the doorway of the room they shared with Shirou, and raised an eyebrow at him.

Haruhiro sighed. "Shirou might not have noticed – he's a surprisingly heavy sleeper for someone who gets up so early – but you didn't come back to the room at all last night, and you stink of alcohol."

Manato just scowled in response and remained silent, prompting another sigh from the thief.

"Are you doing alright? What's your problem with Shirou? I know he's a bit of a hard-ass, but aren't you glad at least that we have such a strong leader?"

Apparently it was the wrong thing to say, because Manato's scowl deepened as he turned a bit away from the sleepy-eyed boy before answering.

"Frankly, no, I'm not." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts while Haruhiro waited for him to continue. "I'm the kind of guy who would rather go at my own pace, you know? Not the pace somebody else has set for me."

There was another long pause.

"Fine, I like to lead, alright? Shirou should have gone off with Renji like he was asked to. I didn't ask for him to stay back and "protect" us like we need his pity, and I certainly don't need a "leader" who stands behind his team and just judges them."

"You should talk with him about this, Manato. It's not healthy to bottle it up like this and then try to drink your problems away," Haruhiro said softly.

Manato scoffed as he forcefully shoved the last of his supplies into his rucksack. "I don't want to. I can already imagine the smug, condescending look he always puts on if I were to show any weakness, like I've admitted he's better than me."

"I think you might be confusing smug and condescending with 'neutral…'" Haruhiro automatically slipped into his usual way of response, but Manato wasn't in the mood.

"Nobody asked you, alright Haruhiro? Just leave me alone," he said as he brushed past the boy in the doorway. Haruhiro looked after him with sad eyes, but said nothing more.

* * *

Shirou watched as Haruhiro approached Yume, who was silently scouting ahead. She excitedly turned to him and made a complicated series of hand gestures. Shirou wondered when they'd had the time to come up with their own version of sign language, but Haruhiro just stared at her blankly and then crept forward himself to see what she'd spotted. His eyes visibly widened, and he turned back to where the rest of the group were waiting silently in the bushes a short distance away from the bubbling spring they were surveying. Giving them a simple nod and thumbs up, he indicated that they had spotted their quarry: a mudgob. Haruhiro raised his hand into the air, a little shakily, and then dropped it in a cutting motion like a butcher's cleaver.

At the improvised signal, Ranta took off with a howl, instantly blowing their cover. Haruhiro followed his cue, albeit a little more silently, and Yume raised her bow over her head before beginning the draw as Shirou had taught her.

The goblin, startled by Ranta's war cry, took off running away from the majority of the group, coincidentally directly towards Haruhiro and Yume. Upon realizing a threat was coming from that direction as well, it slid to a halt and tried to adjust its course.

Yume chose that moment to release her arrow, which whistled through the air and pierced cleanly into the goblin's thigh. Shirou nodded his approval as it yowled in pain, and Haruhiro yelled "Nice, Yume!" as he and Ranta closed in on it.

Because it had stumbled and stopped after the injury to its leg, Ranta was able to reach their foe first, and screamed "[Hatred's Cut]!" as he jumped at the goblin. He failed to account for the treacherous footing of the marsh near the spring, however, and slipped on his takeoff, falling face-first into the mud. While ineffective, it at least served as a distraction, as the maneuver certainly occupied the whole of the goblin's attention. As it pulled back its arm to slash at the fallen Dread Knight with the rusty dagger it carried, Haruhiro stabbed it in the wrist from behind, causing it to drop the weapon and eliciting another shriek of pain.

By now, Manato, Moguzo, and Yume, who'd dropped her bow after the first shot, had approached the melee with weapons drawn and formed a loose semicircle around it, cutting off all avenues of escape with its back to the spring. Ranta stood up, spitting out mud, and joined the human net alongside Haruhiro, who had kicked the fallen dagger out of easy reach.

Shihoru stood on top of the ridgeline the others had scrambled down to get to the spring alongside Shirou. As the goblin had nowhere to run to, it was an easy target, and while Moguzo threatened it with his longsword to distract it, she held her staff in front of her and chanted.

" _Marc em parc!"_ A ball of purplish blue light shot out and impacted the goblin right in the jaw. As its head was thrown to one side and it blinked heavily, dazed, Moguzo and Ranta struck as one, with the smaller boy's sword impaling it from the rear as Moguzo's crushed its head heavily from above.

It was over.

"Make sure it's dead!" Shirou called down from above. Only Ranta really took to the invitation, still riding his adrenaline high as he withdrew his sword from its back and then stabbed it several more times, wide-eyed and breathing heavily.

Now that the threat was neutralized, Shirou realized Ranta's condition was shared among most of the group. Despite the battle, if it could even be called such, only having lasted a few seconds, almost everyone was out of breath, and were staring at the fallen humanoid in shock.

To break the tension, Shirou started to clap loudly. "Your first real victory! Congratulations, all of you. You should be proud!"

Ranta, the most eager to give into bloodlust, was also apparently the first to come to terms with the fact that he'd killed a living being. Releasing all the tension in his body with a sigh of relief, he erupted into a smile. "And it's all thanks to me! Haha! I'm going to collect my first Vice! An ear's too big… maybe a claw, or something?" He started poking around the corpse with the tip of his sword.

Shirou approved. Willingness to kill was obviously necessary in this line of work, and remorse for your enemies would prove fatal in the long run. As much as his antics were annoying, he had potential.

Actually, they all had potential, he mentally amended as Haruhiro began to help loot the body and Moguzo congratulated Yume on her successful shot. He gave Shihoru a congratulatory pat on the back as well before they both made their way down the ridge.

"Good job conserving your energy in case anybody was Injured, Manato," Shirou casually called over as he went to inspect the corpse as well, missing the irritation that flitted across the priest's expression at what he took to be an underhanded way of saying that he hadn't contributed and the way he tightened his grip on his staff.

* * *

They found no more goblins that day; despite Shirou's otherworldly skill with a bow, the party was still limited to Yume's meager tracking abilities when it came to actually seeking out their prey. The silver piece with a hole punched into it and the wolf's fang they found dangling on a thin cord around the goblin's neck sold for a surprisingly high amount of 1 silver and thirty copper, combined. Split seven ways, that was eighteen coppers each, with four in change that went towards purchasing the night's groceries. Considering they each spent between twelve and fifteen coppers today on food and lodging, it was a total profit of around four coppers each. It wasn't much, certainly, but they were in the black for the first time! If the current rate continued, and the amount they gained from the single goblin was around average, they could continue to live as they were at the small price of one easy fight per day.

Ranta had wanted to go to the tavern to celebrate, but was shot down when it was pointed out to him that Shirou and Moguzo combined could create a meal worthy of any restaurant in the city for much cheaper. He eventually gave in, but not before demanding that in return, Shirou had to open his magic circuits before the end of the night. Manato ducked out as the other boys began preparing the food, mentioning that he had promised to meet someone at the tavern to exchange information.

After dinner, Shirou called Ranta over to the same table Shihoru had laid on that morning, and gave him the same warning about magecraft he'd given Shihoru before performing Structural Grasp on the boy.

"Hmm. You have seven dormant circuits, of average quality. You won't be a stellar magus, but I figure it's still worth learning."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Let's get this over with. The sooner I'm done with this, the sooner I can learn how to destroy things with a touch!"

Shirou sighed and once more projected a needle-like miniature sword, moving it towards the hot-headed boy's arm.

Ranta visibly paled, and drew back. "Wait, hold up. Nobody said this would involve needles, alright? I change my mind. No more spells for me. I'll stick to demons, thank you very much."

Shirou didn't make any moves to stop him as he started to stand, merely nodding his head. "You're right. If you flinch at the thought of a needle, there's no chance you could make it as a magus," he said earnestly.

Ranta froze and then angrily lay back down. "Fuck you, Shirou. You're saying I'm not man enough? Not as much of a man as Shihoru? Nah. Fuck you. You'll see."

When he finally grew silent and still, Shirou pricked him without further ado, which drew out a small yelp. A few seconds later, Ranta relaxed. "Whew. That wasn't actually that bad. I can handle this easy!"

"I haven't started yet," Shirou reminded him with an eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Well fucking get on with it then before I pass out!"

Shirou nodded, and began the influx of prana. Ranta's eyes widened momentarily before they rolled back into his head. Seconds later, his body began convulsing in agony, and he let out a strangled scream from between clenched teeth.

Moguzo, Ranta's closest friend of the group, was quick to run over. "Is he alright? Shihoru was nowhere near this bad," the soft-spoken giant asked as he knelt down beside the Dread Knight.

"His prana is just more volatile, and his circuits are more frayed than Shihoru's were. Hold his legs still so he doesn't hurt himself, and let him ride it out," Shirou answered as he himself took up a position where he could press his weight down into the boy's shoulders and the rest of the group arrived and watched on in concern, and Shihoru with empathy.

While more violent, Ranta also was finished far quicker. As the fit ended, he struggled to breathe in long, rattling gasps. "Fire… from the inside… it burned…" He managed to choke out. "Water."

When Yume arrived with a freshly drawn pitcher, he managed to sit up and gulp it down noisily and messily, not stopping until it was finished – or at least emptied, since more of it ended up on him than in him.

"You." He turned his intense gaze on Shihoru, who looked surprised to be singled out. "You went through that too, huh? I underestimated you. You're pretty tough too."

"Ranta… I think that's the nicest thing I've ever heard you say," Haruhiro said in awe.

The redhead snorted. "Don't get used to it, you got that? All that means is that we're both tougher than you, sleepy-head!"

"I told you, it's just my eyes that look like that! I'm not actually sleepy!"

"Heh. Yeah, whatever." He turned to Shirou with a forced grin. "Now we learn how to destroy panties?"

Shirou noted the small boy was still shaking slightly from his ordeal, and shook his head. "Now you take a break, and then we practice opening and closing your circuits."

Shirou went to get the boy some more water, trailed by Haruhiro.

"Why do you just let Ranta say whatever he wants? Do you just have the patience of a saint?" The thief asked casually.

"No, it's not that," Shirou replied with a very faint smile. "He kind of reminds me of someone, actually. He might be a pervert on the outside, but I have the feeling that even if he acts in a way that I really dislike, he could still be someone I consider a friend."

"I don't really get that… he gets on my nerves, honestly."

"He talks a big game, but he's never actually done anything really bad, has he?"

Haruhiro grudgingly shook his head.

"All bark and no bite. Deep down, he could be a really nice guy. He tries his hardest in the field, just like all of you, and even if he talks you down before and after, he's kind of reliable, no? Like, it's easy to work in tandem with him, because if you know him as a person, you know how he'll act in a fight."

Haruhiro cocked his head to one side. He hadn't really thought about Ranta in those terms before.

"And overall, under his rough exterior, he's just as lost as any of the rest of us in this world, acting the only way he knows how as he tries to fit in. If you indulge him the odd quip or two at your expense, he'll treat you and the rest of the party with more loyalty than money could buy, because we give him a place to belong."

"It's hard. Everything he does is just so annoying…"

"I know. Just don't give up on him yet, ok? He hasn't given up on any of us." Finishing refilling the pitcher, the pair returned to where Shihoru and Ranta were trying to share the particulars of their own awakenings, with Ranta insisting that his was by far the more intense pain, and Shihoru struggling to find the words to refute him.

After Ranta had drunk deeply for a second time, he looked a little less pale and more like his normal self.

"Alright, let's begin." Shirou once again began his professor act. "Yume, Haruhiro, Moguzo, you three should pay attention as well, if you plan on having your own circuits opened later as well. Now that your circuits are no longer dormant, you should be able to open them up at will. I want you both to close your eyes and breathe deeply and slowly. You're going to meditate on a trigger, a mental command that switches your circuits from the "off" position to "on." Or rather, depending on how you visualize your trigger, you'll have a different interpretation of the difference between your circuits being activated or not – for example, on and off versus open and closed. You'll know when you've succeeded; it'll be a sensation similar to your awakening, only far less so."

Both of the apprentice magi meditated, with Ranta squirming every so often and Shihoru furrowing her brow in mediation. After around ten minutes –

"Nnngh. I got it." Ranta spoke first, breaking Shihoru's concentration as he did so. "Burning and cold… it's like striking a match, and then pinching it out again. Damn, this sucks. You're saying it hurts this much every time you cast a spell?"

"You get used to it."

"Hmm. The price of a worthy prize, I suppose…"

"Keep at it, Shihoru," Shirou encouraged. "Ranta's experience was a little fresher in his mind, so he had an advantage."

The purple-haired mage's hard concentration was rewarded a few minutes later as she once again felt the indescribable pain spread through her body, although Shirou was right – it wasn't incapacitating this time. For some reason, she felt detached from it, and it was almost a comforting sensation. "A flash of lightning." She smiled at her teacher. "The blinding flash turns them on, and then it's like… afterwards, you know how your vision is black, but the streak where the lightning came down is stuck in your vision, softly glowing, those are the circuits… Glowing and dark, but it's almost like overall, there's more darkness when they're glowing, if that makes sense… What do you use for your trigger, Shirou?"

"A hammer, slowly being drawn back, building up potential energy, and then surging forward and striking against a block of steel on an anvil," Shirou said as he smiled back. "Good job, both of you. For the rest of the night, as long as you want to, I want you both to practice turning them on and off."

"That's it? Come on, man, get to the good stuff!" Ranta scowled.

"Not quite."

Shirou first had them just work on activating and deactivating their circuits from a meditative position, but the drills got harder from there. Activating them while holding a conversation. Activating them while walking, and then activating them while running. Activating them while dodging, as Shirou pelted them with pebbles. He had them focus on activating circuits altogether as well as individually – something Shihoru picked up easily, but Ranta couldn't quite get the hang of, only being able to ignite all of them at once.

While they worked, he had Yume, Moguzo, and Haruhiro spar each other, first alone, and then in pairs against the odd man out. "The advice I gave you last night about fighting while outnumbered still applies, but for this drill, we're going to pretend that it's only a momentary thing. Your allies are preoccupied elsewhere, but not out of the fight entirely, so prioritize your own survival. Just try to last as long as you can, without completely disengaging – if you run away entirely, the enemies you're holding off will be able to overwhelm your allies with ease."

Haruhiro and Moguzo made a good team against poor Yume, who was swiftly defeated every time it was her turn to be alone. Against just one enemy, however, she proved to be adept at holding their attention without injuries, and she even managed to beat Haruhiro when it was one vs. one. Haruhiro, when alone, forwent attacks entirely, focusing completely on dodging for as long as possible, which Shirou thought was a good idea, as it both accomplished his objective of surviving as well as raising his evasion skills so he would be less likely to be injured in the field. When Moguzo fought Haruhiro and Yume, Shirou was reminded of a pair of wolves taking down a frantic buffalo who couldn't keep his eyes on both of them at the same time. Rather than try to evade, he planted his feet firmly and tried to keep the space around him clear with huge, sweeping slashes, but it seemed as if one of the two was always behind him and willing to dart in for a quick attack, and he always ended up exhausted and beaten down.

A side effect of Yume being defeated so handily was that she was less tired than the other two, and so had enough energy left to practice her archery as well when the boys were too exhausted to continue sparring.

Eventually, one by one, they made their way off to bed, where they would sleep heavily after their exertion.

Before he closed his eyes, Shirou glanced over at Manato's bed. It was still empty.


	6. Chapter 6

Haruhiro's morale was at an all-time low. Of course, he only had memory from the last two weeks of his life, so "all-time" wasn't really as impressive as it sounded, but today officially marked the first time that he was feeling worse than he had during his week of torture at the hands of Master Barbara of the Thieves' Guild. The primary reason for this was, of course, his finances, and the ill mood seemed to have spread over the rest of the group as well. He didn't want to ask anyone else about their own financial situation, but since they all pitched in for groceries and housing and nobody was sporting any new clothing, he imagined they were in a similar boat to him.

He had had one silver, eighty-eight copper at the end of his first week in Grimgar, just after he graduated from the Guild. They hadn't made any money their first day hunting, and he had spent fourteen coppers. The second day, he had a net earning of four. The third…

They had gone hunting for mudgobs again in the forest, and had come across a group of three. Haruhiro had been a little nervous to confront them, but Manato had been extremely confident that they could manage it. With Shirou curious to see how they managed against multiple opponents, everybody else was talked into an attack.

It hadn't ended well.

* * *

Ranta and Haruhiro had focused on one of the goblins, a big green one carrying a rusty axe, but they hadn't had any experience fighting side by side yet. As Ranta was pushed back by a wild flurry of attacks that left him too busy trying to defend himself to retaliate, Haruhiro jumped in to take the pressure off of him. The surprise of the switch-out had stalled the goblin for only a moment, and Haruhiro almost immediately found himself forced to retreat as well. He tripped over the Dread Knight as he backpedaled, sending them both to the ground.

Haruhiro thought they were doomed as the goblin waddled up to take advantage of their vulnerability, but Yume warded it off by sinking an arrow into the ground near its feet while they recovered. The arrow passed a little too close to Haruhiro for him to be comfortable, but he appreciated the save nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Moguzo had engaged a second goblin, one wearing a studded metal cap and wielding a short sword, using the same low sweeping attacks that he had tried to use to keep Yume and Haruhiro away from him the night before. He was keeping it occupied on his own, and didn't seem to be in any danger, but he also wasn't coming anywhere close to landing a hit.

Manato was fighting the third and final goblin, supported by magic missiles from Shihoru, and seemed to be getting the upper hand over the dirty yellow wielding a dagger.

Shirou watched with a critical eye from next to Shihoru as his teammates fought.

A huge thudding noise sent echoes through the forest, as the sword wielding goblin baited Moguzo into a swing that it easily ducked, leaving the giant's sword stuck firmly into the trunk of a tree. The goblin took a moment to survey the other combatants, and apparently decided that Yume, standing alone off to one side with her bow, was the easiest target. With a sinister grin on its face, it sprinted towards the archer while Moguzo struggled to free his sword.

Yume, who had been sighting on Ranta and Haruhiro's goblin again, was taken by surprise as the goblin tackled her from the side with a high-pitched, warbling growl, sending her shot flying far off into the canopy above them. Yume shrieked as she and the goblin hit the ground hard, rolling away from each other, and she stumblingly got back up to her feet. Her left thigh was bleeding from a large slice that ran from just under the bottom of her shorts down to where it had been deflected by her socks, reinforced courtesy of Shirou, just above the knee. It wasn't deep, but still she struggled to put her weight on it, and fell to the ground again as she desperately tried to draw her kukri, scrambling away on her butt as the goblin stalked closer.

When Manato heard his teammate cry out in pain, he turned away from his opponent and began to rush towards Yume, but the goblin he was fighting couldn't pass up such an opportunity. Leaping after him, it plunged its dagger deep into his calf, bringing Manato to the ground as well.

 _Thwip. Thwip. Thwip._

The goblin standing over a terrified Yume, with sword held high, toppled to the ground and lay still.  
Manato crawled forward to get away from his pursuer, rolling onto his back to see that the yellow goblin wasn't moving.  
An arrow whizzed past Haruhiro's ear, directly into the green goblin's eye.

Haruhiro turned towards Shirou to see the older boy still standing in an archer's stance, both hands still extended from where he had released his third arrow. His face bore a faint frown. He slowly lowered his arms, and calmly spoke. "Manato. Please heal yourself and then Yume." Haruhiro realized that everyone else was staring at their savior as well in complete silence, but after the archer's clear tone had shattered the moment, everyone began to move.

Shihoru frantically pushed through the undergrowth to get to Yume, where she helped apply pressure to the girl's leg. Manato scowled at Shirou and tried to limp his way over as well, but couldn't make it on his own, and needed Moguzo to support him. Only after making sure Yume's thigh had been fully healed did he have Haruhiro pull out the dagger from his leg and heal himself. Ranta spared a few glances to make sure everybody was alright before going around to gather up the sellable items from the goblin corpses, grumbling halfheartedly as he did so about how if everybody else had pulled their weight properly, he could have gotten more Vices. All the while, Shirou just stood there with bow in hand, surveying the area to make sure that nothing else snuck up on them.

Finally, everybody regrouped. The mood was somber, and there were more than a few heads hanging low as they awaited Shirou's brutal assessment. They weren't disappointed.

"Sloppy. You had them outnumbered two to one, and still were overpowered. Yume, an archer needs good situational awareness; once Ranta and Haruhiro had their goblin under control, you should have either covered Moguzo with your bow or gone in to assist him in melee. Shihoru, that applies to you too, if you'd read the situation better you could have stopped the goblin rushing Yume. Manato, don't let your attention waver when it's your responsibility to hold down one enemy. Trust that your allies can defend themselves and each other. Ranta, Haruhiro, Moguzo, all three of you need practice fighting. We're heading back for today."

At this, there were a few protestations, considering it was still before noon, but Shirou shut them down. "No. I won't have you fighting until I'm confident you can handle the kinds of enemies you'll be facing. We're going to go back and train: Physical conditioning, sparring, maneuver drills. When I think you're ready, we can go hunting again."

* * *

Haruhiro had argued that living wasn't free, and they needed to earn money to survive, but Shirou wasn't having any of it. He insisted that money was of no use to the dead and that they had enough to get by in the meantime. The loot from the three mudgobs Shirou had executed wasn't worth much, only one silver in total, which had been just enough to cover his daily expenses. The next day, a Thursday, he'd spent fourteen copper, and then another fourteen on Friday and another fourteen earlier today. Doing the math, that meant that since he had graduated, he had spent twenty percent of his money. At this rate, he would be starving in the streets after four more weeks.

Shirou's reinforcement every morning had been stopping most of their clothing from being damaged, but obviously he hadn't been reinforcing their undergarments, and Haruhiro's one pair of underwear was already getting threadbare. He had wanted to buy a new pair, a few days ago, back when he assumed they would be making money every day, but now such thoughts were far from his mind. Instead he ran calculations, trying to figure out how much longer he could last if he spent one copper less per day on food, or two, or if he managed to convince all the boys to move into a 6-bed room, or if they started camping outside the city walls and foraging.

The money problem was only one part of the drop in morale, however, thought Haruhiro as he rolled over in his cot with a sigh. He had thought Barbara was bad, but he reckoned Shirou could give her a run for her money when it came to harsh training.

The only reason he wasn't covered in bruises was thanks to Manato's healing of them at the end of the day, but even that didn't completely remove the soreness. All day long, from sunup to sundown, was training.

Before breakfast, Shirou made everybody run through the mostly deserted streets of the city for several miles while he stayed behind and cooked, and the day only worsened from there. Haruhiro was pretty sure he couldn't count as high as the number of squats, pushups, and sit-ups he'd performed over the past few days, not to mention the countless swings of his dagger. He couldn't even imagine how much harder it must be for someone like Moguzo, who was made to perform the same exercises with his vastly larger sword.

Midday and afternoon was for maneuvers, allegedly to give them some time to rest after morning conditioning, but they were just as grueling in their own right. They had practiced approaching an enemy under the cover of large slats of wood as Shirou pelted them with blunted arrows that seemed to unerringly seek out any body part that was left sticking out, boosting each other up walls that were unclimbable alone, moving stealthily but quickly as a unit, and more. Earlier today, Shirou had let them outside the city walls again, but only to use the outskirts of the forest as a training ground, where they played full contact capture the flag. That had actually been pretty fun, Haruhiro admitted, as he had led his team of Moguzo and Shihoru to victory over Manato, Yume and Ranta by leaving his teammates to defend while he snuck off to find the enemy flag, sprinting back to his side of the field with Yume hot on his heels and the flag in his hand.

Maneuvers tended to transition fairly seamlessly into sparring, which at least gave everybody a chance to vent their frustration towards Shirou's harsh training. Thursday evening had been the first time all six party members besides Shirou were sparring together, which allowed for some new scenarios. It was lucky that both of the spells Shihoru had learned thus far were non-lethal, because it got her some practice using them on living opponents. Magic missile hit with the force of a punch, and could be fired for relatively low energy. Shadow Echo, which took the form of a dark elemental blob that looked a little like a clump of seaweed, caused the target struck by it to convulse uncontrollably. In team sparring, they quickly learned that she was an invaluable support member who could potentially lock down multiple opponents at once, leaving them vulnerable to further attack, but that she was also completely vulnerable herself in close quarters. To that end, Shirou had insisted that she also do some sparring with only her staff. She was terrible at it, but she seemed willing to learn, so maybe there was hope for her yet.

Manato… despite probably being the most naturally athletic of the group besides Shirou, he was falling behind in their daily exercises. Haruhiro had seen him sneak out every night after Shirou had gone to bed, and he often wouldn't stumble back to their room until well past midnight. The lack of sleep and the hangovers weren't doing him any favors physically, and the fact that Shirou didn't even seem to notice, seemingly just accepting his poor performance as his natural limits, was only exacerbating the problem. In fact… Haruhiro wasn't really sure how much it cost to buy a round for the whole tavern, but Manato had to be running out of money. What would happen when he ran out? Would he have to ask the others for a loan? Would he admit why he needed one?

And finally, there was magecraft.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Moguzo, Manato. The presence of magic circuits is determined at birth. Really, it's shocking that so many of you had any in the first place," Shirou explained with the tone of a doctor explaining to his patient that they had some kind of disease – like he was afraid that they would take their anger at the situation out on the bearer of bad news.

He'd just finished _Grasping_ the rest of the group. Haruhiro apparently had nearly as many circuits as Shihoru at fifteen, a fact that he was secretly very proud of, but felt bad celebrating – because Yume had just one, albeit of a high quality, and Moguzo and Manato hadn't had any.

Moguzo helped dispel some of the tension by chuckling. "To be honest, after seeing Ranta and Shihoru, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to go through that anyways, and I can't miss what I've never had. I'll just have to rely on all of you to support me, alright?"

Ranta clapped his friend on the back as a show of support. "That's right! You just worry about being big and intimidating and acting as my shield, and you can leave the badass magic and demons and sword fighting to me!" He said with a childish grin.

Manato didn't really look interested either. "Well, if I'm not to be included in this training, I think I'll be off," he said detachedly as he stood up and began to walk towards the entrance of the lodge.

Haruhiro watched as he left. Should he call out to him, ask him to stay? Tell him not to visit the tavern tonight? No… it was too late. He was already gone, and Shirou was already explaining again what it would mean for them to open their circuits. To walk with death, apparently.

He still had his reservations about the process. Sure, reinforcement had probably saved the party from some more grievous injuries, but couldn't they just rely on Shirou for that? Would it be ok just to rely on Shirou forever? And being able to make weapons out of thin air was cool, but hadn't he mentioned at some point that it was a unique ability of his? So what was really the point? Was it worth going through so much pain?

Well, if everyone else was moving forward… he would accept whatever pain it took to keep up with them.

He and Yume agreed to have their circuits opened together. Shihoru and Moguzo agreed to help keep them as comfortable as possible as they went through the process, and surprisingly, so did Ranta. The pain was so bad that it could make even Ranta feel sympathy, huh? That alone might be the thing that scared him the most. As they lay side by side, Yume's hand made its way into his. Oh. He supposed she must be pretty scared too, huh?

He gave her hand a squeeze as he felt the pinch of the needle in his arm, but after that, all thoughts of the outside world were forgotten.

He would later reflect on the fact that the pain was far more mental than physical. It was like a growing sense of panic, a feeling of a shortness of breath. He had begun to hyperventilate, but even though he was breathing deeply and rapidly, his mind was insisting that it wasn't enough, that he was suffocating. He began to get dizzy, ironically from having too much oxygen in his blood, and thrashed about wildly in terror for a few moments while gasping before passing out.

He supposed he was lucky, in that sense. Sure, it had been one of the most terrifying things he'd ever experienced while it happened, but he'd been unconscious after the first few minutes. He woke up as the process came to an end, shooting up and gasping like a man who'd almost been drowned, to see Yume already sitting beside him with tears in her eyes.

"You were out for nearly an hour, Haru!" She smiled through the tears. Wait, when had she decided to shorten his name to Haru? "I was worried you wouldn't wake up!"

"I'm alright, really…" He tried to protest, but she'd suddenly tackled him into a hug, only to drag him bodily to his feet and march him over to where Ranta and Shihoru were watching and wrap them up into the hug as well. Yume was pretty strong, apparently.

"Yume felt like she was being crushed! It was so scary, and yours all lasted so much longer than mine, you're all so brave! Yume's so proud!"

Moguzo and Shirou were watching the hug from a short distance away. Ranta was feebly protesting and trying to free himself, but not very hard. Haru thought he might secretly be enjoying it. To be honest, he was too. He cautiously encircled his own arms around his friends. Shihoru had already given in to her chipper roommate's attitude and shyly hugged everyone back as well.

"Come on, you join in too!" Yume beckoned to the other boys, and Moguzo lumbered over good-naturedly. He was able to wrap his arms around all four of them, and lifted them off the ground entirely for a brief second.

Shirou just continued watching with the same smile, which hadn't shifted at all. Had he not heard Yume? Or did he just assume her invitation didn't apply to him?

"Good job, all of you. Thanks for helping out, Moguzo. Let's break for dinner, and then I'll get you all started on the basics. Shihoru, Ranta, if you could help Haruhiro and Yume figure out opening and closing their circuits, Moguzo and I will start cooking."

"You hear that, Parupiro? I'm your sensei now, so you'd better treat me with the proper respect, got it?" Ranta said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Haruhiro did his best to ignore him as he settled down to meditate. He'd already heard Shirou's earlier explanation, after all; he didn't need some annoying brat trying to tell him what to do. Now, to just recapture that feeling…

It had felt like a shortness of breath. Now that he was prepared for it, he took in several deep breaths, and on the third, held it at its apex. In his mind's eye, he imagined a stone plummeting downwards until it impacted a perfectly smooth pane of water, sending ripples across the surface, and as they spread, he felt prana begin to spread through his body. He kept holding his breath as the panic began to set in again, but it was more manageable now. Especially if he just matched it to the physical version of the same sensation… and then he breathed out, imagining the ripples fading until the water was again a glassy sheet, and as the ripples went still so did his prana.

He returned his focus to his surroundings.

"…if you don't get it. Hell, you might never get it. We can't all be as talented as me, after all. If you beg me a lot, I might give you some tips," Ranta was saying.

"Done." Haruhiro cut him off and stood up. He silently exulted in the look of shock that crossed his foil's features as he brushed past him, leaving him sputtering.

He could have stayed and helped out Yume, and basked in the feeling of superiority over Ranta, who still beat him more often than not in sparring, but he had something else to do.

"Hey, Shirou, can I talk to you for a moment?" He called out.

Shirou broke off from his conversation with Moguzo with an apology, and walked over to Haru while wiping off his hands on his apron. The thief wasn't exactly sure when or where he'd gotten an apron, actually. Perhaps it wasn't just Manato who was less frugal than himself. Speaking of…

"Can we go somewhere private?" He lowered his voice a little. "I want to talk to you about Manato."

"Sure, we can use our room." They walked in silence up the stairs as Haruhiro tried to piece together his thoughts. Shirou sat down on the empty bottom bunk, and Haru on his own bed.

"What about Manato did you want to talk about?"

"…I'm worried about him. Have you noticed he's been sneaking out at night?"

Shirou nodded. "I have, but he's always on time for training in the morning, so I haven't seen a problem with it. What he does in his own time is his business, right?"

Haruhiro frowned, thought for a moment, and shook his head. "Not if it affects the group. He's been drinking every night. He's not at his best when we train, and soon we'll have to loan him money. Money that we don't really have to spare."

"You're right, I suppose, if it puts the rest of the group in danger. But why talk to me about this? Shouldn't you be talking to Manato?"

"I tried. He didn't want to talk about it. I just… I kind of assumed you would have some way to fix it."

"Haruhiro, I'm… not actually that great with people." The older boy smiled sadly. "If you couldn't get through to him, there's no way I could."

Haruhiro struggled to understand. "What do you mean? You're always so solid and reliable, it feels like you always know what to do… and Shihoru really likes you, you know?"

"A sword is solid and reliable. Knowing what to do in a fight isn't the same as knowing how to talk to people. And I like you all too, but I don't think Manato likes me."

Haruhiro noted how Shirou neatly avoided the mention of the purple haired mage, but didn't push it. "You knew he didn't like you? It didn't seem like you'd noticed. Does it not bother you?"

"I can't control how other people feel about me."

He said it so matter of fact, like he was absolutely confident in who he was. That he couldn't change, no matter how many people hated him for it. Haruhiro hoped that someday he would be that confident about himself. "…I'm worried about what will happen if we do nothing."

Shirou shook his head. "If I try and talk to him about it, he'll take it personally. It's not like I can just order him to stop if my authority is part of what's causing the problem in the first place."

Haruhiro sighed, trying to think of anything else to say and failing. After a moment of silence, he nodded and stood up, but was stopped as he began to exit the room.

"Haruhiro. I'm glad you brought this up."

Haru turned around to see the swordsman's expression was conflicted.

"I'll… try to keep a closer eye on him, make sure he doesn't get in over his head."

Haru nodded in thanks and turned to go. Before he got out of earshot, however, he heard Shirou mutter something under his breath.

"How can you save everyone if some people don't want to be saved?"

* * *

The magecraft spells that Shirou taught were interesting. To Ranta's delight, they had started with structural grasp before moving onto reinforcement. Haruhiro had been surprised at how hard the spells were, and how variable their results seemed to be, compared to how Shihoru's magic missile and shadow beat spells seemed to be exactly the same every time. After three days of practice, he was at least proficient with Structural Grasp to the point that he could glean some fairly detailed information about an object he used it on. It was kind of like each object was filled with tubes that he would pour a tiny bit of prana into and then observe how and where it flowed, and by the time it had somehow looped all the way back to where it started, he had a near perfect mental image of its physical characteristics. He still couldn't _grasp_ the history of an object, but Shirou had said that was an advanced use of the skill anyways. He found that he had a certain affinity for using it on living beings – a fact that spurred jealousy in Ranta.

The hotheaded boy was terrible at the spell – he would finish it in a flash, but come out with relatively little information, and he could barely use it at all on other people, as he found out after repeatedly trying it on Yume and Shihoru from behind at all hours of the day. Yume herself was average at it, mostly because it took her too long to finish the spell. Shihoru was undoubtedly the best of the four – her _grasping_ was far faster than Haru's, and they had a similar level of accuracy.

Of course, it wouldn't be fair to compare any of them to Shirou, who could completely grasp every detail of pretty much anything with just a touch.

As far as reinforcement went, it was harder to judge the results, because only Shihoru had managed it to any extent so far. She described it similarly to the way he did, with minor differences – to him, it felt like trying to pour prana into a spiritual mold the same shape as what he was trying to reinforce and then waiting for it to solidify, but he had troubles getting the amount right. His prana would ebb and flow, and if he didn't put enough into the mold, it would leak out. Force too much in at once, the vessel would shatter. Shihoru, lucky for her, said she didn't feel any ebb or flow, and didn't have to hold it perfectly filled at the end. She just poured prana in and stopped when it was full – still tricky, like trying to fill a cup exactly to the brim without spilling – but it was as if she was using a constant drizzle from a… sink faucet…? Or a constant drizzle from a second cup that she could hold steady, and he was using the pump from the well. Yume described it like building up the image of the object with bricks of prana that always seemed to fall over before they reached the top, and Ranta wasn't even trying. Because he had a poor mental image of an object from structural grasp, he couldn't perform reinforcement well anyways, so he always just shot a ton of prana into whatever he was holding until it overflowed and was destroyed.

Even Shirou admitted that it was a valid use of the skill, but warned him to be careful. If he tried it on something that could take more prana than he could produce, he might drain himself dry and die of prana deprivation. He also matter of fact-ly warned him that if he tried to use it on anybody else's property, including their clothes, he would shoot him.

So far, the only thing they'd practiced on was pebbles. Not exactly shooting fireballs, but Haruhiro actually quite liked Shirou's version of magic. It gave him concrete minor goals to work towards, he had seen the end result's effectiveness first hand, and it distracted him from his dwindling wallet.

Shirou had decided that tomorrow, Sunday, would be a rest day. They were free to do as they wished, without having to worry about training. While he was elated that his body wouldn't be suffering its usual abuse, that of course meant another day without making any money – and probably spending more than usual, if people decided to go out for meals instead of pitching in together for groceries.

Haru sighed again and rolled back over, looking up towards Manato's empty bunk as he drifted off to a fitful sleep, filled with dreams of money, goblins, and drowning.

* * *

Shirou rose early on Sunday morning, around 4:00. He had made clear to the rest of the group that he wouldn't have any training for them today. What he hadn't told them was that he wouldn't be around at all for the majority of the day. He wasn't sure how some of them might take it, so he had decided that he would sneak off before they woke up. He took the time to scratch a simple message into a plank of wood with a projected dagger and prop it up next to the stove where it was sure to be noticed.

 _I'll be back for dinner – Shirou._

There, that should do it. He slung his bow over his shoulder. It was the only weapon he was bringing with him today. He figured leaving behind his bastard sword and dagger in his room would help dispel any worry over his absence, even if rationally the party knew that he could project whatever blades he wanted.

Frankly, his conversation with Haruhiro a few days ago had worried him a bit. He hadn't known that the thief, and probably the rest of the party too, were so worried about money. Did Manato resent him because his insistence on training was cutting off his money supply, and indirectly the drinking that he seemed to enjoy so much? Regardless, the training was necessary. The group had to know their own limits, or they would die, it was as simple as that. And what kind of army sends out a group of barely trained kids to fight deadly monsters? Surely the extra two silver given to trainees, beyond the eight required to join a guild, was to finance living expenses over a short training period before a group actually ventured forth to fight goblins, right?

Well, if the training was necessary, but his friends were worried about money, then the solution was simple.

Shirou would make some money.

Originally, he had planned on doing some blacksmithing, figuring he could make a fair amount of money by providing swords to other adventurers – especially if his projections didn't actually dissipate in this world. On the other hand, he hadn't completely ruled out the fact that it might just take them weeks or even months to disappear instead of hours, so he wasn't comfortable selling them, and after all, he was already employed as a volunteer soldier. If it was his job to kill the monsters that might threaten the city, he supposed he might as well do so, and if it also happened to be the best way to make a lot of money fast, he wouldn't complain.

He walked through the streets of the city, nearly empty in the pre-dawn light. Nearly, because there was still the odd tavern patron or two filing home after a late night of weekend drinking.

In fact, the pair walking towards him were eying him strangely – and not altogether pleasantly. Both men, and both seemingly intoxicated based on the way they were awkwardly staring at him while clearly pretending they weren't. The taller one had just leant over and started whispering to his friend.

Curiosity piqued, Shirou casually reinforced his ears to be able to hear what they were saying.

"…come on, man! Red hair, priest's robes, but has a bow, it's gotta be him! How many people in town could fit that description?"

"I guess… he doesn't look like a coward, though…"

"Appearances can be deceiving, you know?"

They paused in their conversation for a moment when they thought they were within his earshot, but continued once they had passed him.

"Hmph. They really just let anyone into the reserves now, huh? They should, you know… do background checks or something."

"I don't think the reserve volunteers really have backgrounds…"

"I guess. But still, if somebody in my party acted like that, they'd be kicked out in an instant…"

Huh. Interesting. Shirou idly wondered what they'd heard about him, and from whom, but wasn't overly concerned. That was a problem for another day. Today was for making some money, and for testing out some of what he felt he was capable of, but hadn't had any chance to test yet.

He made it to the city gates, which were kept guarded at all hours of the day. Typically, a Crimson Moon member would have to present their badge to the guard on duty to be allowed outside the gate, but the current guardsman was snoring loudly.

Shirou considered waking him up. He was in dereliction of his duty, after all – what if the town were suddenly attacked? But on the other hand, he didn't want to be a nuisance, and as a volunteer soldier, it was also his job to sally forth and quell invasions before they happened, so instead he silently climbed the stairs behind the guard that led up to the parapet. Reinforcing his legs, he lightly stepped off the wall, falling twelve feet and landing quietly in a crouch.

Now, where to hunt?

He ruled out the forest. While good for novice warriors, the few and far between mudgobs wouldn't be good for what he had in mind, and wouldn't pull in much money besides. If there was one good thing about Manato's drinking, however, it was that he often picked up new intel from other, more experienced parties. He hadn't directly discussed it with Shirou, but Shirou had overheard him telling some of the others about alternative hunting spots when he was in a good mood. There was Damuro, which used to be a huge human city before it had been conquered by the Deathless King and later occupied by goblins. Supposedly, the Southeastern portion of the city, known as the "Old City," was mostly ruined, and occupied by weaker goblins. Manato had wanted to go there instead of the forest, hoping for more consistent loot. The alternative was the Cyrene Mines, which were occupied by Kobolds.

Shirou thought Damuro would do nicely, specifically the non-ruined part. If ruined portions of the city attracted weaker goblins, then he assumed nobody would mind if things got out of hand and the Old City ended up getting an expansion.

Just in case, of course. It wasn't like he was _planning_ on destroying the city or anything.

The city was really shockingly close to Altana; it took him less than an hour to make the hike over. He drew his bow as he stepped through the crumbling walls that marked the eastern border.

" _Trace: On."_

He opened his circuits and began to reinforce – and _alter –_ the bow. He had a blueprint stored in _Unlimited Blade Works_ that he couldn't project – that of a massive black bow, taller than he was, made of a high-tech carbon polymer blended with incredibly strong steel in a process that Shirou was pretty sure hadn't been invented yet. Ignoring this impossibility, the bow called to him, and even if it was beyond his current grasp, he could at least approximate it. He concentrated on the bow in front of him, reinforcing not only its conceptual metaphysical gaps, but also reinforcing the concept of "bow" and changing its physical form to something closer to the perfect bow in his soul. It visibly changed color to a dark grey that was almost black, and it grew longer, more angular, with sharp manufactured edges replacing the more rounded curves of the wood. Finally, he used _alteration,_ the second spell of material transmutation magecraft, and added the concept of "Used to fire Noble Phantasms" to the spiritual identity of the bow.

The process took around a minute to complete. Shirou was satisfied with the result, but resolved to practice more to reduce that time.

He entered the nearest ruined building, and climbed up through a hole in its roof to be able to see the rest of the city better. Off in the distance, to the Northwest, there were still some mostly intact spires that would provide an even better vantage point. Nodding to himself, he set off in their direction.

It was time to kill some goblins.

* * *

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I'm out of time for this update. I'll be away from a keyboard for the next three weeks, sorry for the delay in updates. Thank you to everyone who's left reviews, and please continue to do so! I'll do my best to get back to you!**


	7. Chapter 7

Shihoru was worried.

She'd awoken that morning, stretching the lingering soreness out of her slowly developing muscles, excited. No training today, after all! She and Yume had decided the night before to sleep in a little, planning to awaken to yet another wonderful breakfast courtesy of their fearless leader. She'd had the rest of the day planned out too – she was going to have Yume help her invite Shirou out to the marketplace, after which the huntress had already agreed to find some excuse to slip away and leave the two alone. It would almost be like… a date. Her first date, perhaps? Amnesia was a tricky thing.

Her first clue that something was wrong was the smell, or rather the lack of it. The sun was already full in the sky and shining through her window… She couldn't have missed breakfast, could she? Shirou would have waited for her, or sent someone to wake her, right? Hmm. Perhaps he was planning on a brunch? She could live with that.

She nudged Yume, who awoke with a cute little snort, and hurriedly changed into her mage robes. It was a little unfortunate that her work clothes were also her best clothes, but it was either that or her dull beige sackcloth dress that barely preserved her modesty.

Hurrying downstairs, she was just in time to see Moguzo and Ranta coming through the front gate of the barracks with a basket of groceries. Confused, she scanned the rest of the courtyard for Shirou, but next to the oven where he would normally be standing was only a large plank. She approached it and read the neatly carved message with a rapidly sinking heart.

"So he didn't tell you either, eh?" The boys had come up behind her while she read. Moguzo had already started chopping vegetables, and Ranta was leaning against a pillar with arms crossed, watching her. "Hmph. Guess he doesn't want to spend any more time around us than he has to, after babysitting us all week."

Shihoru said nothing, but her head dipped dejectedly.

"Whatsamatter, huh? Upset 'cause Sempai didn't bother to let you know what he was doing all day? I bet he's out in town somewhere, probably picking up chicks. That's what I'd be doing, if I were him. Pretty slim pickings around here, eh?"

The last bit seemed to be directed at Yume, who had finally made her way downstairs and just finished glancing at Shirou's note. She wrapped her arms protectively around Shihoru from behind and glared at Ranta.

"Don't be mean," Moguzo rumbled. "You're just grumpy because no breakfast was waiting for you when you woke up." Ranta huffed and stalked off to get some water. "Sorry, ladies. It might not be up to our usual standards, but I should have breakfast ready in a few."

"Thanks, Moguzo." That was just about all Shihoru could muster in response. It had been going to be a perfect day – ruined already.

Yume patted her back encouragingly. "Don't you worry about it. I'll be your date instead, alright? We can walk around town and buy some nice food and look for Shirou, it'll be like an adventure! And when we find him it'll prove that Ranta's a stupid meanie-head. And if somehow he's right, we can beat up Shirou together, ok?"

Shihoru couldn't help herself – that mental image made her giggle a little bit. Her, beat up Shirou? There was a better chance of Ranta secretly being a mudgob in disguise.

Haruhiro finally wandered down the stairs, rubbing the omnipresent sleep from his eyes.

The four sat to a breakfast that was, all things considered, very good. Shirou might have had an edge over Moguzo, but it was a slight one.

"You know," Ranta half mumbled between huge mouthfuls of food, "If we ever retire from being soldiers, we could totally start a restaurant, Moguzo. Just you, me, and Shirou. You two could be the chefs, and I could handle the finances!"

Moguzo smiled. "I'd actually like that, Ranta. Good idea."

"Of course it's a good idea! All my ideas are good ones!"

"Have you guys seen Manato?" Yume cut in, having learned from experience that when Ranta started bragging it was a good time to head him off before it got out of control.

Moguzo shook his head. "He never came back last night. Today was our day off, after all, so he didn't have anything to wake up for, and decided to spend the night on the town. I'm sure he'll turn up later."

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence as everyone spared a thought to their finances, and how rapidly Manato must have been plowing through his.

"Let's try not to worry about things like that on our day off, alright?" Haruhiro hesitantly offered. "We're already way better at fighting than we were a week ago, right? I'm sure Shirou will have us out hunting again soon, and with our new skills we'll be making plenty of money."

There were nods all around.

"Let's just enjoy a peaceful day today."

* * *

The small group of four goblins chittered in anger. They were clad in a ramshackle arrangement of various pieces of rusty armor, wielding similarly rusty but no less deadly weaponry. The three in front spread out, menacing their target, while the one behind them took sight with an old crossbow.

With a metallic twang, the bolt was shot forth. The aim was perfect, and the projectile traveled faster than any human could hope to react.

Shirou, regardless, managed. Tilting his head to one side smoothly, the quarrel whistled past his ear. Releasing his own arrow, the crossbow wielding goblin let out a squawk as it fell backwards, dead.

The other three, oblivious to their companion's death behind them, took the archer's release as an opening, and charged in unison.

With reinforced legs, Shirou leapt backwards and away. Before his feet touched ground again, two more arrows had already been projected and loosed, and two more goblins had fallen. It was an old sniper's trick – when taking on multiple targets, killing from the back forwards stopped the foremost enemies from scattering upon seeing their companions fall. The third, which had been closest to him and had not ceased its charge, drew close as he landed and chopped down heavily with an axe resembling a woodcutter's splitting maul. Shirou pivoted neatly out of the way, tapping the side of the axe with the top half of his bow as he did so and exacerbating the goblin's overextension. The axe crashed heavily against the cobbled ground, and before the goblin could even try to pull back for another swing, a projected dagger had already slit its throat.

Shirou paused for a moment in the sudden silence after the fourth body hit the ground, listening for any enemy reinforcements. Satisfied that none were forthcoming, he put down his bow and set about gathering the spoils of war from pouches secreted about the goblins' bodies. Similar skirmishes had made up the majority of his morning as he made his way to the spires, and his own purse was noticeably heavier. The goblins weren't putting up much of a fight, at least compared to his own skill level. He hadn't had any reason yet to project any noble phantasms – on the bright side, that meant his prana reserves were still running strong, but on the other hand it wasn't as if he was gaining much in the way of practice.

He looked up at the tower that he'd finally made it to, and judging it sufficient, entered and began to climb the stairs.

To truly test himself and improve his skills, he would need either an improved quality of enemy, or increased quantity. Something told him that he would outclass even the strongest of goblins in Damuro, so he would have to settle for sheer numbers. For that, of course, he would need some way to attract sufficient attention…

He reached the top rather swiftly, and climbed through a half-ruined ceiling to get to the very top of the spire. Perched like a bird of prey, he held out an empty hand.

" _Trace: On."_

There was a crackle of electricity, and for a few moments blue light coalesced around and out from his arm, leaving him holding a weapon more finely crafted than any of the steel blades and arrows he'd used to kill goblins thus far. It was a nameless blade, not a noble phantasm, but it was perfect for his purposes. Enchanted with spells of fire, vibrant blue flames flickered across the exposed steel, but they radiated no heat – instead, the light they produced seemed to spread far further than such a small blaze should produce. It had been designed as an adventurer's weapon, to illuminate dark corridors without the need for a free hand to hold a torch. With another pulse of prana, Shirou altered the sword, stretching the hilt and pommel out until it was several feet in length and as thin as a pencil, and shrinking the blade down to a thick triangle only a couple of inches long. The flames, concentrated down to a much smaller point, made the tip almost blinding to look at directly.

Then, with another influx of mana, the tip suddenly bulged out a bit, and there was a slight cracking sound as Shirou _Broke_ the arrow. An advanced application of reinforcement akin to overfilling a cup to the point that only water pressure kept it from overflowing, by pushing just a bit more mana into an object than it could hold, it could be made unstable. For most weapons, this would be of dubious usefulness – the next blow would certainly shatter the weapon in question, causing a powerful explosion as the prana inside went wild, usually amplifying the magical effects of the weapon if it was enchanted and at the very least sending shrapnel everywhere. In most cases, this would leave the wielder unarmed, and possibly injured, albeit having also just delivered a powerful attack to their enemy. For a magus who could project new weapons at will, however, and who could launch them as projectiles, it was perfect.

With a _twang,_ the arrow-sword was launched straight upwards, leaving a blue streak behind it. It didn't ascend far, no more than a few dozen meters, before it violently exploded. Countless shards were sent flying in all directions, each of them glowing a vibrant cerulean and leaving lingering trails in the air. The overall effect created would not have been out of place in a fireworks show, looking something like a weeping willow's branches highlighting the tower Shirou was stationed in.

Already, Shirou's reinforced ears could hear goblins chirping far below him, and as antlike figures began to emerge from nearby structures and move to investigate, he drew his bow.

* * *

Manato woke up with his head pounding. He forced open his eyes and blearily looked around. This wasn't his bed…

He peeled his face off of the slightly sticky wood in front of him, and let out a small groan as he sat up. He was at his usual table in the tavern, and the owner was behind the bar polishing a glass, staring at him with disapproval.

"Finally up, are you? Only reason I didn't throw you out on the streets last night is because you're a regular, and the other patrons seem to like you. Don't let it happen again, alright? Now get out of here so I can clean your table."

Manato complied almost automatically, stiffly getting to his feet and shuffling towards the door. He gave his coin purse a light squeeze as he did so, and frowned slightly upon realization that it was completely empty.

If only that damn Shirou had let them go hunt goblins, he wouldn't be in this mess…

He wondered when he had fallen into the trap of thinking that he needed Shirou's permission to do something. It wasn't as if the other boy outranked him, after all. Besides, he certainly didn't have to ask his permission when he went out drinking, did he? It was a sweet, if small, act of rebellion.

An act that would be coming to an end presently, if he couldn't find some cash quickly.

He leaned against a nearby wall, holding his head and trying to think through his hangover. What were his options?

As far as he knew, there was no way he could take out any loans from Yorozu's bank. He was well liked at the tavern, and some of the other regulars would certainly buy him a few drinks in return for his previous generosity, but that only solved the problem of drink, not of food.

The answer, he realized, was obvious. He'd even already thought about it, in fact. Today was nominally a rest day, according to their self-appointed leader, but that just meant that while Shirou was off doing whatever it was he wanted to, Manato and the others could do the same, so why not go hunting?

Before he knew it, he was already outside the barracks. He took a moment outside the gate to brush himself down and straighten his robe. Having a purpose clear in mind was already helping to clear up his headache, and he'd always been good at acting less hungover than he actually was.

He walked in naturally, closing the gate behind him. Yume and Haruhiro were clearing up the dishes from what appeared to be a late breakfast, or perhaps a brunch, while the other three sat talking at the dining table. Manato was relieved to see that Shirou wasn't present, as it would make convincing the rest of his companions much easier if he could speak openly here instead of trying to find some pretense to get them in private.

Ranta swiveled his head from where he was sprawled lazily on one of the benches. "Yo, Manato. You didn't happen to see Shirou on your way back in from town, did you? He ditched us all this morning and got lover-girl here all in a funk."

Manato ignored Shihoru's stuttered protestations and shook his head. "I didn't, no, but actually there's something I wanted to talk to you all about anyways that would be better said without him present."

Ranta raised one eyebrow at that, as Manato pulled up a nearby stool and sat at the head of the table. Sensing the seriousness of Manato's tone, the two dishwashers quickly finished up what they were doing and sat down with the others.

Manato inwardly grimaced as he took in the varying levels of apprehension on everyone else's faces. He'd already known most of them were pretty pro-Shirou, but if even the mention of a discussion without him set them on edge, they might be more brainwashed than he'd thought.

"Quite frankly," he began slowly, "I don't think he's doing a very good job as a leader."

He held up one hand to forestall the protestations that were already forthcoming, especially from Shihoru and Haruhiro. "Wait, hear me out first. I'm not saying he's not a skilled fighter – he's proven that enough times. It's just that he doesn't seem to have any idea how to manage a group like this. All this training, it's not how things are supposed to go. Our time in the guilds was for training, and now we're supposed to use the skills that we paid for in time and money out in the real world!"

Moguzo looked uncomfortable. "I understand where you're coming from, Manato, but we tried that at first, remember? In the last fight we had, if Shirou hadn't been there…"

Manato waved a hand as if to swat away Moguzo's protestation. "One mistake, and we learned from it, right? It won't happen again." Sensing that another rebuttal was on its way, he quickly played one of the cards that he'd been saving for this argument. "Listen, you all remember Renji, right?"

There were hesitant nods all around.

"His party is already so far ahead of us it's not even funny. Just the other day, I saw them at the tavern, each and every one of them wearing brand new armor and weapons. Do you think they made that kind of money just sitting around and training? Look at yourselves! Aren't you tired of only having one pair of clothes?"

It seemed as if he was getting through to them a bit, or at least he was being forceful enough in his argument that they were reluctant to directly oppose him. Oh well, if none of them were very strong willed, it would make his job easier.

Haruhiro was the first to respond. "What do you expect us to do, Manato? Shirou was pretty adamant that we weren't ready yet, and I'm more inclined to believe him than not. And even if I did agree with you, it's not like we can just go out and make the money ourselves."

Perfect. One of them had suggested it, which would make the idea seem more reasonable than if he'd had to bring it up himself. He raised his own eyebrows, as if the thought had only just occurred to him. "That's it, Haruhiro. That's the perfect solution – today, we can go out as a group and kill a few goblins. Not only will we earn some money, which I know you all are running low on, but it'll also prove to Shirou that we've learned enough to be trusted to go hunting again!"

Manato focused his gaze on Ranta for a moment as he finished his proposal, sending the smaller boy a look that seemed to convey " _I believe in you, you are strong."_ He knew that all he had to do was knock over one domino, and Ranta was by far the most predictable…

The hothead didn't disappoint. He stood up from the bench excitedly, and proclaimed, "Manato is right! We've been training for like a whole week already, which is way more than Renji's group has, I'm sure! In fact, this is probably a test from Shirou to see if we're ready, and we have to take the initiative!"

Wow. That was almost too easy.

"It's only been three days, Ranta," Haruhiro said blandly.

"Yeah, sure, but it feels like a week! I'm way better than I was last time I saw a goblin – the next one I see will learn to fear the power of the Dread Knights!"

"Hmmm…." Moguzo let out a low rumble. Manato knew he was close with Ranta, which likely meant that he would go along as well… "I could use some money… Warrior equipment isn't cheap, and I feel like I could better protect you all if I had at least a helmet… and Shirou didn't say we _shouldn't_ go out and hunt today… a couple goblins couldn't hurt."

"Maybe not explicitly," Haruhiro responded, "but have you already forgotten the way he looked at us when he saved us from those goblins? I don't think—"

"Well, I'm going," Manato said, exuding confidence. "And Ranta and Moguzo are coming with me." He looked at the other boys, having made their decisions for them, and was met with an enthusiastic nod from Ranta and a more delayed one from Moguzo. "That's half of us already, and you wouldn't let us go without you, would you? I'd feel a lot safer if you three were with us."

He could see the conflict in their minds as clear as if they were saying it out loud. _Come on, just one more…_

"…Fine. If we can't change your minds, then just because I don't want to have to explain to Shirou that you three ran off and got yourselves killed while he was away," the Huntress said with a sigh.

 _Yes!_

Haruhiro looked defeated. "Well, if the majority is going… I can't very well refuse. And I could use a bit more money…"

Manato finally turned his eyes to Shihoru, who looked terrified. Whether that was at the thought of going out and fighting again, or at being potentially left behind, he wasn't sure, but either way he gave her an encouraging smile. He was met with a sharp nod in response.

"That settles it, then!" Manato clapped his hands together and stood up. "Today, we prove that we're soldiers!"

* * *

The ground below was covered in corpses.

The goblins had come _en masse_ to investigate whatever it was that had caused the fireworks – nearly two hundred of them. Almost enthralled by the light, they had stood and watched until the last of the blazing trails had finally faded away while Shirou waited and watched. Finally, after the lights were no longer visible, there had been a mad scramble to get inside the tower and climb to the top and see whatever had created such a wondrous display– but with only one entrance, it was slow going. Shirou estimated that it would take the smaller humanoids around five minutes to climb to the top of the tower if they hurried, so he had waited for two, by which time nearly half of those who had assembled had managed to squeeze their way inside.

Then, he rained death from above.

To save time, he had projected several quivers of arrows in front of himself. As a result of his height and distance, he didn't have to fully draw his bow; gravity would do most of the work. He moved like a machine, grabbing a handful of arrows out of a quiver at a time with his draw hand, it was the work of an instant to nock, half-draw, aim, release, repeat. Including the time spent "reloading" the cluster of arrows held from the quivers in front of him, he averaged two shots per second.

Naturally, each and every one was lethal.

As he had before, he started from the back, targeting the goblins that were furthest away from the tower. By the time any of them noticed the deadly rain, dozens had already been slain. There was panic, then; with the throng around the entrance to the tower still thick, many goblins tried to flee, but they were rapidly picked off before they had a chance to reach any of the nearby buildings. Seeing this, the majority of those remaining went for closer shelter instead and redoubled their efforts to enter the tower. After picking off the few stragglers still trying to escape, Shirou simply sent arrow after arrow down into the teeming mass of goblin flesh stampeding the door – several were crushed by their own kind in their haste.

Finally, the last goblin still outside fell still. In under a minute, around one hundred goblins had been killed.

Shirou took a deep breath in, and held his hand over the edge of the tower, projecting another sword. He didn't close his hand around the hilt, simply letting it fall to the ground many meters below where it sank into the cobblestone with a heavy crunch just in front of the tower's door.

The sword in question was around ten meters tall, and made of solid bronze. Despite its weathered appearance, it was actually one of the more modern pieces found in Unlimited Blade Works, having been created on earth in 1983 as a part of a monument in Norway, _Sverd I Fjell._ It made for a rather solid door-blocker.

He turned away from the edge and jumped back down through the hole in the roof, taking up a position near the top of the staircase that spiraled around the walls of the tower. Readying once more his bow, he didn't have to wait long before the first group of goblins entered his view, chittering in excitement as they took in the sight of a single human with no armor and having no idea of what had befallen those behind them.

Rather than draw from quivers as he had before, Shirou projected a handful of arrows at a time. It was slightly less efficient in terms of prana, but it was better than quivers when it came to moving and firing at the same time.

He sniped the first four goblins when they were on the opposite wall from him. Two fell over the side of the staircase, plummeting down to the bottom floor, but the other two corpses rolled back down the stairs the way they had come, impeding the movements of those behind. At that, Shirou began to walk down the stairs slowly, projecting and firing more arrows as he went. The more that fell, the more the momentum of the goblin horde slowed, and then it began to reverse as falling bodies started to push the living back and the smarter individuals tried to turn around and run the other way. By the time Shirou reached the point on the stairs that the first of his victims had settled, a full retreat was underway – a retreat that ended in disarray when they realized that try as they might, they could not budge open the only door more than a few inches, as there was something unbelievably heavy and sturdy blocking it from the other side.

From that point, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

. . .

All in all, recovering the valuables from the many, many bodies took far more time than the killing of them had. He projected a backpack to hold his spoils, with one smaller compartment that he filled with what coins he salvaged, mostly coppers but with a healthy smattering of silvers as well. The main pouch of the pack was filled nearly halfway with various baubles ranging from damaged coins to glass marbles to animal fangs and everything in between.

By the time he returned to town, it was around two in the afternoon. His first stop was at Yorozu's bank, where he deposited the liquid assets of his foray first. The perspicacious girl gave him an odd look as he poured out all the coins onto her table, but professionalism took over nearly immediately and she informed him that he had collected nearly sixty silvers worth of total value. He chose to deposit twenty-eight and the remaining change, and exchange the rest for an even thirty silvers that he would distribute to his party members, reasoning that the sum should assuage their monetary fears for the time being. Rather than glut the market with an influx of goblin trinkets all at once, and entrusting the diminutive banker to secrecy, he chose to deposit the rest of his loot as well after she informed him that the bank was perfectly willing to store physical items for only a fraction of their total cost as a fee.

This time, as he poured out the rest of his spoils, her shock was unmistakable.

Looking at him with wide eyes, she asked him, "Where did you… I've never seen such a large collection of such inexpensive trinkets. You're a first timer here at Yorozu's, and I wonder, how could someone have spent the time to hunt so many goblins without ever using our services? Nearly every Crimson Moon member has an account at Yorozu's. Have you been carrying these around with you all this time?"

Shirou looked a little sheepish at that. "Ah, no. I'm actually a rather new member of Crimson Moon, it's just that, the circumstances for hunting recently were… ideal." He'd never been a very good liar, or even good at twisting the truth, but he did his best. "I—we used a pretty clever trap, and were able to kill quite a few of them in a rather short time. I suppose they must have been carrying an unusual amount of loot, so lucky us again, right? Anyways, this is all that we've made in the past four days, so…" He let out a nervous chuckle.

Yorozu still looked a little suspicious, but in the end she accepted his statement at face value. "I see. Well, according to current market prices, the total amount you have here comes out to one gold, thirty-four silvers, and twenty coppers. We charge a two-percent fee for the deposit of goods, so for us to hold all this for you will cost you two silver and sixty-eight-point-four coppers. Will that be all today?"

Thanking her for her help, he finally returned to the barracks. They were empty – well, it was to be expected, really, that everyone else would be enjoying their day off in town.

It was just, something felt off. He hadn't seen any hint of them when he'd walked through the fairly busy market, but they could have been inside any number of buildings…

Then he realized why he was uneasy. Moguzo's sword, which was taller than Ranta, was too cumbersome to be stored in the tiny barracks rooms, and since they were the only ones staying at the trainee barracks, the giant boy had a habit of leaving it out on one of the weapon racks flanking the courtyard where they did most of their training – and it was missing.

And it was _certainly_ too cumbersome to bring into town for a day of fun and relaxation.

He hurried upstairs, and ducked into his own room to confirm his suspicions. Manato's staff was likewise gone, as was Moguzo's armor and Ranta's sword when he burst into their room next. He hesitated only briefly to knock on the door to the girls' room, but when there was no answer he entered there as well as his heart sank even further. Shihoru's staff and Yume's bow were nowhere to be seen.

He then spared a thought to what would be the likely aftermath of his actions today in Damuro. Due to the massacre in the city, it was possible, if not probable, if not _certain_ that goblins would avoid the scene of his slaughter like the plague. They would flee the area, rushing into zones that would have otherwise been considered fairly safe, like the forest, or the ruined "Old City." In other words, the places his companions were most likely to go if they were doing what he thought they were.

Without a second thought, he took off running for the town's gates once more.


End file.
